Snowbarry- Season 3
by Write-To-You
Summary: A couple of episodes and scenes from Season 3 of the Flash, continuing Barry and Caitlin's story from Snowbarry- Season 2 and Snowbarry- Season 1.
1. 3x03

**Author's Note: Holy smoaks, back so soon? That we are! And now with the new excitement about how I'm actually going to be doing Season 4... PRETTY AWESOME!**

 **As you know from the ending of Season 2, Barry didn't create Flashpoint. You guys** ** _NEED TO KNOW THIS!_** **Caitlin still has powers, and Julian and Savitar are still characters, but Dante didn't die, and all of that stuff.**

 **I am going to be doing 3x07 (obviously) and then hope to do maybe 3x03, 3x13, 3x18, and 3x23. I am, unfortunately, going to have to make the scene where Caitlin "dies" (just because of necessity for the rest of the season), BUT she will be redeemed by 3x23 and not go on her "self-finding" mission.**

 **YOU MAY BE WONDERING ABOUT THE WEDDING: I will be replacing WestAllen with Snowbarry for their wedding in the Crossover (Season 4, Crisis on Earth X). It may seem like an awfully long time for them to not have a wedding, but not much time has passed between 2x23 and 3x03 in this storyline, and also their wedding DOES take some time to plan :)**

Barry drummed his fingers against the table top and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

He glanced at the door. Then at the clock. It had only moved about 12 seconds since he last checked.

 _Where was Caitlin_?!

She was supposed to meet him at 5:00, after his shift at the lab was done. It was currently 4:58 and 22 seconds. She was basically late. Except not actually.

He bounced his leg a few times and glanced at the clock. 4:58 and 28 seconds. Was time actually moving _slower_ then usual?

Sometimes Barry Allen really hated being a speedster. Times like when he was waiting for his fiancé to come meet him for dinner. Barry was practically starving. Besides, he had been crazy busy at the CCPD lately, and he and Caitlin hadn't been out to dinner just the two of them in at least a month and a half.

Ever since he had stopped Zoom, things had been in a lull. Metahumans didn't show up quite as much, and the only thing he was terribly worried about on the superhero front were strange husks appeared at random spots. It was like the person inside had been sucked dry, leaving an empty shell behind.

Footsteps on the stairs made Barry look up. 4:59 and 2 seconds. He grabbed his coat, hurried toward the door, and-

"Allen!"

Barry stopped and looked back. There sat Julian Albert, a new CSI that now worked in his lab and basically liked to dictate everything he did.

Barry let out a long, slow sigh and turned back around. "Yes?"

"What are you doing? Your shift isn't over," Julian huffed, shuffling a few papers around on his desk.

Barry glanced at the clock. 4:59 and 26 seconds. He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well it will be in, like, half a minute."

"Then you should use that half a minute wisely," Julian said. "Because your job hasn't ended."

Barry huffed out an annoyed breath and moved back to his chair, sending Julian a _There you go, I'm doing what you asked, happy now?_ look that the other CSI sedately ignored.

A small, light knock came at the door. A large grin bloomed unconsciously over Barry's face. "Come in!"

Julian's mouth pinched. "No visitors in the lab-"

Caitlin poked her head in, smiling when she saw her fiancé. "Hey, Barry! And uh, hi, Mr. Albert. Caitlin Snow, in case you didn't remember."

Julian grunted something and Caitlin exchanged a look with Barry.

He refused to let his bad mood be messed with, and pulled her in for a quick hug. "How was your day?"

"Good," Caitlin said, sending an afterthought kind of wave at Julian as Barry pulled her out the door.

"Allen-"

"It's 5:00 Julian!" Barry called back. "Night!"

He shut the door behind them and released a sigh. "An entire month has passed and he _still_ manages to annoy the heck out of me."

"You guys will learn to work together eventually," Caitlin assured him. "Now where are we going?"

Barry grinned, taking in her red, flowered dress and and long ringlets of perfectly curled hair. "You look beautiful."

"Interesting restaurant name."

He frowned a moment before getting the joke. "Oh, haha, Miss Literal. Or should I say Mrs. Almost-Snow-Allen?"

Caitlin giggled, nudging his shoulder. "You could, but it wouldn't make much sense. Unless my last name is suddenly 'Almost-Snow-Allen'?"

Barry rolled his eyes. "You're in rare form."

"I'm happy," Caitlin admitted, taking his hand and squeezing it as they set off down the street. "We haven't done this in a long time."

He smiled down at the top of her brunette head, swinging their hands. "Me too. Besides, you helped me escape from Julian Albert, so that always gives you points of favor."

She shook her head and he tugged her down the street a little faster, pulling her to a stop in front of a restaurant. The smell of fried food and french fries wafted out as Barry pulled open the door, and his stomach let out a terrific growl.

Caitlin giggled. "You going to be able to wait until our food arrives to eat?"

Barry wrinkled his nose as the host seated them and handed them menus. "Um... maybe?"

"Don't worry; I got you covered." Caitlin reached into her purse and discreetly passed him a calorie bar. He gave her a grateful look and inhaled it, trying not to attract any attention from waiters.

"You are a life saver on some many levels," Barry told her, waiting for the food to make him feel like his stomach wasn't trying to eat him from the inside out. "Except you aren't the candy kind of life saver."

Caitlin's brow furrowed. "And you thought _I_ was in a strange mood?"

They both looked over their menus and ordered, before Barry started back up the conversation. "How was work?"

"Busy," Caitlin sighed. "We're trying to figure out those husk samples you sent, and..." she paused, stopped, then hurried on. "Yeah, just a few other things."

Caitlin glanced down at her hands, hoping that Barry hadn't caught her slip. In truth, she hadn't just been working on the husk samples that much that past day. She had been trying to figure out her powers.

For over a week now, Caitlin had known that she was a metahuman. She had told absolutely _no one_ , too scared to face the facts that she was a meta and hoping to cure herself before anyone even had to know.

There was a reason she was so afraid. She wasn't just any meta. She had ice powers, just like her doppelganger on Earth 2. Caitlin knew firsthand how _evil_ that woman had been, even if she may have redeemed herself in the end. She was afraid that if her powers took hold, she might turn that bad, too.

She spoke again, trying to break herself out of her thoughts before Barry caught on that something was wrong. He had almost figured her out a couple of times, and she wasn't sure how long she could keep her powers a secret from him. "How about you? Good day?"

"Well, uh, Julian had me write up a Carbon Dating report, then a DNA sequencing report, a couple chemical compound reports..." he trailed off. "So, he pretty much gives me all the work he doesn't want to do. I know- it's really boring."

Caitlin raised her eyebrows. "Boring? Barry Allen, science is _never_ boring."

He grimaced. "I would have rather been working on the husks. Have you guys made any new advancements on what caused it?"

"No, not really," Caitlin admitted. "I've tried testing it for all sorts of different things, but..." she stopped and smiled at him. "But we don't need to talk Team Flash tonight, we can do that any day."

"Right! Yeah, of course," Barry said, nodding quickly. A sudden siren made them both look up, and Barry caught the attention of a passing waiter. "Uh, excuse me- what's going on?"

"Robbery across the street," the waiter reported. "Sorry, I've got to go."

Caitlin and Barry exchanged looks. Caitlin raised her eyebrow. "What are you waiting for?"

"Well, I just thought that it's our date night-"

" _Barry_ ," Caitlin groaned. "Go."

He nodded and quickly flashed away. A second later, he was back in his seat and the sirens had stopped blaring. "Sorry about that."

Caitlin shook her head. "Barry, it's our life, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

He smiled, and was about to respond, when both of their phones buzzed. "It's Cisco,'" Barry reported as he read the contact.

Caitlin sighed a little, staring wistfully at the other couples eating dinner inside the restaurant. But then she steeled herself, because as she had just said, this was their life, and she wouldn't want it any other way.

She glanced away from the screen and nodded at Barry. "We should go."

 **Flash!**

Barry and Caitlin appeared down at the bunker, where the rest of the team was gathered.

"What is-"

"That!" Iris interrupted, pointing at the swirling blue mass in the center of the room.

"Why did you open a breach?" Barry demanded, coming down the steps.

"I didn't," Cisco replied, eyes trained on the gun he was holding.

"What?"

"That's why we called you," Joe said. He was standing beside Cisco, also with a gun in his hands.

"Can you close it?" Caitlin asked, staring in alarm at the breach.

"Once again, wouldn't have called if I could," Cisco called back. "Sorry, I know it was your date night tonight."

The breach began to swirl more frantically, and Wally's mouth twisted nervously. "Somebody's coming through."

"Step back," Joe commanded Iris, Wally and Caitlin, holding his gun higher.

Barry squinted into the breach, prepared to break into the run at the slightest need.

Then out popped Earth 2 Harrison Wells, panting a little, hands raised. "Allen."

"Wells."

"I need your help-"

In the next second, another figure popped out the breach and ran a couple of laps around it in a stream of yellow lightning. Then the figure stopped, and Jesse Wells grinned out at all of them.

"With that." Harry completed, gesturing at his very-speedster daughter.

"Hey guys," Jesse said, grinning.

"Jesse," Wally stared at her, looking shocked. "You're a speedster?"

Jesse shrugged, unable to keep back her smile. "Yeah, pretty cool, right?"

Wally looked down, and Iris hurriedly jumped in, "Uh, yeah! I would say so."

"When did this happen?" Caitlin asked, excited for the young Wells.

"A few days ago."

"So, when I got Allen his speed back, Wally and Jesse were hit with the Dark Matter- turns out she was effected- she was _totally_ effected-" Harry babbled. He looked a bit stressed.

"But I didn't get speed," Wally spoke up. "So could it have been from something else?"

"No," Harry said, then reiterated. "I mean, I doubt it. Dark Matter effects different people in different ways at different times- and sometimes not at all, so you can be thankful. But she was affected and I want to run some tests and find out just how much."

Caitlin grinned. "Well, then you've come to the right place."

She led the way to the speed lab, a new addition to STAR Labs. It was something that Cisco had been working on in his free time, and included a track around the perimeter of the room and spots to run drills and monitor vitals and speed.

"Okay!" Caitlin said, smiling at the young female speedster as she and her father looked around the room in amazement. "Let's get Jesse on the track and see what she can do."

"Let's do it!" Jesse agreed excitedly, pulling off her leather jacket and sending a confident smile at Wally. "Check this out."

She flashed up the on ramp and began to wiz around the room. Wally watched her, a wistful, jealous look on his face. No one seemed to notice but Iris, who patted his arm and gave him a sympathetic smile. She knew how much Wally wanted his speed, and how hard it must be for him to see that Jesse had gotten hers instead.

"Daaaang..." Joe let out a low whistle. "She really _can_ move."

"Yeah, she can," Wally muttered. "Um, I gotta... go."

He turned and walked out of the room. Iris let out a sigh. "I'll talk to him," she offered.

"He looked pretty disappointed," Caitlin commented to Barry as she watched Jesse's vitals. She was impressed- the teen was _fast_.

"Yeah," Barry agreed. "But it's better this way."

"Don't have to convince me," Joe spoke up. "Last thing I need is both my kids zipping around at super speed."

"Keep an eye on him," Caitlin advised. "I can't imagine this is easy."

"Who knew you had such a brain for kids," Joe said, grinning at her teasingly. She shook her head, amused, and he nodded. "I'll watch him, though. Hopefully he'll adjust to the change soon."

 **Flash!**

"Baer!"

Barry paused in the lobby area of the CCPD, turning towards Joe.

His dad had been in an interview with Frankie, a girl who had been in the room that her foster father had been attacked in. Or rather, attacked by a lamppost in. Joe was obviously thinking meta, and Barry had to agree.

"What did you find out?" Joe asked in a low voice.

"Okay, get this," Barry said. "So the outer layer of the lamppost is a half an inch thick, but to bend even a _quarter_ inch of steel requires 177 tons of tensile strength, so..."

"So we're looking for a meta with super strength."

"Well, I'm not sure yet," Barry cautioned. "But that's as much as I could find."

"What?" Joe squinted at him, confused. "Why?"

"Because I showed up."

Both of them turned as Julian Albert walked up. He looked extremely displeased... but then, he always did.

"Yes, the only problem with Barry's little theory is there were no fingerprints found on the post."

Barry let out a frustrated sigh, turning to glare at his partner. "Again, Julian, not my _theory_." He turned back to Joe. "And the meta could have been wearing gloves."

"Yes, perhaps," Julian pressed. "But the curvature on the post suggests that equal amounts of pressure we applied to the whole thing _at the same time_. So, unless our strongman has a wingspan of over 20 feet..."

He trailed off, and Joe nodded. "Something else caused it."

"Yes." Julian's eyes slipped past Joe and over to Frankie, who was sitting in one of the offices, drinking a glass of water as she waited for Joe to continue her questioning. "Who's that, sir?"

"That's Frankie Cain, the victims foster kid," Joe said. "That poor girl's been in and out of homes for years. Listen: she said she "blacked out" during the incident."

"Blacked out?" Julian squinted at Joe, hands on his hips.

"Yeah."

"Repressing memories is a coping mechanism for lots of foster kids," Barry commented. He felt, somewhere in Julian's gaze, that he was starting not to trust Frankie, and he didn't like it. There was some very small, very odd protective feeling over her that Barry didn't quite understand at the moment.

"Is it?" Julian said in a low voice.

"It 'tis," Barry said back, mimicking his British accent in a way that was probably childish. He didn't particularly care.

"Hm. Could be something else."

"Where are you going?" Joe asked as Julian pushed past them and into the interrogation room.

"Hello there," Julian greeted Frankie as he walked into the room.

She glanced up at him, her large eyes filled with that same scared, overwhelmed sheen as Joe had seen before. Barry's gut clenched.

"Hi," she breathed, staring up at him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

Julian's gaze flicked to the glass in her hand. "Can I get you some more water?"

Frankie looked down at the glass and then back up at him, seeming surprised that he had asked. "Yes, thank you."

Julian flashed a quick smile at her and took the glass. "Sure."

He turned and strode out of the room, passing Joe and Barry with an offhanded, "Gonna need another glass, detective."

Joe's mouth pinched and he exchanged glances with Barry. "Follow him," he ordered. "See what you can get."

"Mmhm. What're you gonna do?"

"I'm going to finish this up," Joe said, nodding in Frankie's direction. "And convince my son that he's not meant to be a superhero."

He clapped Barry on the shoulder and the forensic nodded. "Good idea."

Then he turned and set off after Julian.

He found his "partner" wiping a cotton swab around the rim of the glass.

"What are you doing?" Barry asked with a frown.

"I'd assumed you've taken a DNA sample before," Julian replied sarcastically.

"Okay, yes," Barry let out a sigh, trying to keep his patience. "I know what you're doing. I mean: why are you doing it?"

Julian kept his back to him, scrubbing his DNA sample across a microscope slide. "Looking to steal another sample?"

Barry rolled his eyes.

"I've isolated an element in all five of the husks that we've found, including Edward Claris's."

Barry frowned. "You mean the Rival?"

"Mmm, that's what the papers are calling him, yes."

The Rival had been a dark speedster that Barry had fought a couple of weeks back. Cisco's newly developed vibe blasts (a trick he had been working on for awhile and was just now getting used to) had saved his life, but the Rival had been found dead soon after they fought him.

Barry peered over Julian's shoulder, trying to see the microscope slide. "What's the element?"

"I don't know..." Julian muttered, focused on his work. "But it's not one that I've found in any other metahuman samples that I've studied."

"So you think that Frankie -the girl downstairs- has the same element in her DNA," Barry finished. He had to admit that it was an interesting test, but a larger part of him was annoyed for Julian even suspecting a young, scared girl of being a harmful metahuman. It was making him oddly defensive of her.

"Well, I wouldn't be comparing samples if it wasn't a possibility, would I?" Julian retorted, peering into the microscope. Barry rolled his eyes. "Well," Julian continued, straightening and turning around. "It's a good thing for both of us that I did."

"What?" Barry asked, confused.

"Come on." Julian strode past him, ignoring his question and heading purposefully for the door.

"Calm down, okay?" Barry said, hurrying after Julian as he charged down the steps.

"Where is she?!" Julian demanded.

"Ju-"

"You- YOU!" Julian had caught sight of Frankie and suddenly his voice raised to a yell. "Girl! Stop!"

"Hey- stop, Julian!" Barry protested and Frankie turned around, her eyes wide and startled.

"Stop!" Julian cried again, taking the last few steps as one and ignoring Barry.

"Me?" Frankie backed away from him, her brow furrowing. "What...?"

"The lamppost." Julian walked towards her. "You did it, didn't you?"

"What? No- No!" Tears sprang into Frankie's large, eye-lined eyes and she looked positively terrified. "No- stop-"

She clutched at her ears, hunching over.

"You're a liar!" Julian bellowed.

" _Julian_!" Joe yelled, coming out of his office and glaring angrily at the metahuman specialist.

"You're a metahuman," Julian accused.

Frankie clamped her hands tighter over her ears, gasping. "Stop- no- no- _stop please_."

"You put your foster father in the hospital, didn't you?"

"No- no-" Frankie let out a throaty sob and Barry stared at her in horror. This was making him feel sick. He remembered all the times in school when kids would tell him that his dad was a murderer, that he had killed his mother. He remember the feeling of tears burning behind his eyes as he had yelled at them to shut up and told them it wasn't true. And it was playing out again, right before him, except this time _Frankie_ was being accused, not her dad.

"Didn't you?!" Julian yelled.

Suddenly, Frankie's cries stopped. Her back straightened, head rolling back. "Oh... I wanna do more then hurt him."

She held out her hands, splayed at the fingers, and growled, "Now I'm gonna do the _same thing to you_."

All of the metal in the room began to bend. The bars lining the second floor hallway... the railing Barry's hands were on... the giant CCPD sign... all of it bent inwards at Frankie's command.

"Frankie!" Joe yelled. "Frankie, stop!"

Frankie was seething now, trembling, panting. The huge, metal CCPD plaque came leaning foreword and Barry moved before he thought.

He changed into his suit, grabbed Julian, and flashed him away from the impact point of the metal slab.

"You okay?" Barry asked Julian, vibrating his face so the other man couldn't recognize him.

Julian nodded seriously, and Barry turned back to Frankie.

But she was gone.

 **Flash!**

While Barry was dealing with Julian at the CCPD, Caitlin was getting through to a whole different type of stubborn... Harry Wells.

He was convinced that Jesse could _not_ be a superhero. Too dangerous, too risky, too... well, too everything, even though Jesse was completely fine, health wise, and _very_ fast. Caitlin would have to check, but she thought that she might have even been faster then Barry when he started.

"Snow," Harry pleaded. He had already tried to talk Cisco into having a conversation with his daughter, and now it seemed it was Caitlin's turn. "Caitlin. You and her- You've always had such a special relationship. _You_ talk to her."

"No we don't," Caitlin said hurriedly. She was _not_ going to be wrapped up in this family drama.

"Yeah-"

"And I don't know _anything_ about having powers, so I'm the last person she should talk to. So. Don't ask me." She hurried down the steps and out of the room as Harry stumbled over his protests.

She turned the corner in the corridor and released her breath. The more powers were getting brought up, the more defensive she got. Eventually one of her friends was going to see that she was hiding something.

Caitlin looked down at her hand, biting her lip as she sent a small stream of frost out of her fingertip. Then she hurriedly cut it off. The less she used her powers, the better. There was still a chance she could fix this.

 **Flash!**

Joe and Barry headed to STAR Labs for their lunch break. Barry approached Joe and asked him how his talk with Wally had gone. When he wandered back into the Cortex, his nose was scrunched in confusion.

"What's up?" Caitlin asked, trying to fight her smile. He looked adorably confused.

"Joe just said..." Barry trailed off and frowned. "Do you think I'm like a girl?"

Caitlin choked on the breath she had just been inhaling and broke into a coughing fit. "A- A- _what?!_ "

"Joe said I was like having a second daughter," Barry huffed, sitting down in Caitlin's swivel chair and spinning it around.

Caitlin burst into uncontrollable giggles. "That's priceless," she laughed, unable to help herself even as Barry's face fell into a pout. "I can totally see that, though."

"Not you too..." he groaned. "He said I like to 'share my feelings'."

Caitlin laughed harder, doubling over and leaning against the desk for support.

"Caitliiiiiin..." Barry moaned, head lolling back as he stared at her with his most endearing puppy dog eyes. "I'm not a girl."

"Of course not," Caitlin reassured him, reached foreword and combing her fingers through his bangs. "No one thinks you're a girl, Barry. Or even girly. You are just a much more emotional guy then you usually see." She smiled at him, cupping his cheek. "It's one of my favorite things about you, so don't you dare ever change."

Barry nodded and sighed, seemingly satisfied. "If you say so." He eyed her for a moment, head tilted. "So... how did talking Jesse out of her speed go?"

"How did you know about that?" Caitlin gaped.

Barry grinned. "It was pretty obvious that that was what Harry came here for, and since he hasn't asked me, the next best option would be you and Cisco. In case you haven't noticed, you're not very good at letting people down, so you probably did what he asked."

Caitlin let out a groan, dropping her head into her hands. "I think that I have failed as a female friend," she mumbled into her fingers. "If anything, I just made Jesse more upset. Not only that, but now she thinks that I think she should jump right into things just because she's a girl."

She huffed, and lightly shoved Barry in the shoulder. "This is all your fault. If you hadn't gone and rushed into everything when you started being a speedster, she wouldn't think that it's a good idea and perfectly normal."

Barry cracked a smile. "Well, I apologize for trying to save the city."

Caitlin shook her head at him and he stood up, planting a kiss on her lips. "I love you."

She sighed against his mouth. "I love you too. Even if you used to be a _very_ bad example."

 **Flash!**

When Frankie (or Magenta, as Cisco was now calling her) was found, so was a giant floating cruise ship.

Barry flashed on top of a building, watching the huge boat soar slowly over his head and towards Central City Medical "Guys," he said, speaking into the com. "There's not enough time to get out of the hospital; this thing's coming down."

It made sense. This was the hospital that Frankie's adoptive father was held in, the one that Magenta had already tried to kill once. Not only that but..

"Barry, Iris' is still in there," Joe said seriously though the com.

Barry let out a breath, trying to focus. "What if... what if I create a wind funnel?"

"You won't be creating enough updraft to keep that tanker up."

"No- not with my arms," Barry pressed. "If I run."

Back in the Cortex, Harry, Caitlin and Cisco exchanged looks. "That could..." Harry trailed off, and Cisco nodded."That could work. Barry! Run in a figure eight fashion. It will act like a propeller. The wind will build upon itself and it'll create the supersonic resistance we need. Could work."

Barry took a deep breath, staring up at the barge. "Alright," he breathed, and started running.

After a couple of seconds, it seemed like their plan had worked. The barge was slowly floating upward, and was no longer in danger of hitting the hospital. Over by the building, patients, doctors and nurses were beginning to stream out of the space, Iris and John (Frankie's father) included.

"Okay, well that worked, but now what?" Cisco spoke up. "He can't stop her if he's up there."

There was a long silence, and then Harry sighed. "Cisco's right," he said softly, before turning toward his daughter. "Go help him."

"Dad..." Jesse started.

Harry's jaw was tight, his face resigned. "Get out there. Now."

"You sure?"

"Yes I'm sure." Harry smiled a little, walking toward her. "I know you can do it. You're more then fast enough. Now run, Jesse. _Run_."

A giant grin crossed Jesse's face and in a couple of seconds she was running by Barry's side, still in human clothes. "Hey," she said, beaming. "Thought you could use a little help. I got this- you go take care of Magenta."

Without speaking, Barry nodded and took off. He raced down the side of the building and skidded to a stop, right out front of Magenta.

"Magenta!" Barry called, holding out his hands in a calming gesture. "I got a little help, so I could help you."

He really didn't want to fight her- a girl that was only a teenager and seemed to be not entirely in her right mind. Something was controlling her, he could tell by the way her eyes were glowing and her face looked harsher and angrier then it had when she was at the CCPD.

"Okay, killing your foster father and everyone else inside that hospital isn't going to give you what you need," Barry continued, stepping a little closer.

"You have _no idea_ what I need!" Magenta growled, her hands still out, fingers splayed and trembling. "It's not just _John_ I want to get rid of. I want them both gone."

A creaking noise from above them made Barry look up. The ship tilted, starting to dip towards the top of the building.

"Barry, you got to stop her now. That tanker's coming down," Harry cautioned.

"I know you're still in there, Frankie," Barry said, refusing to be distracted. "Don't let _John_ destroy the good that's still inside of you."

"He said I was _weak_ ," Magenta seethed. He saw so much pain on her face, pain of misuse and abuse and things that a girl her age should _never_ have to go through. "That I was pathetic! He said I was a horrible person."

"He's just blaming you for all the bad things he's caused in his life," Barry said, taking another step closer. He could see Magenta's resolve weakening, the purple-pink color lighting up her eyes started to fade as tears swam in them. "It's not your fault. This isn't because of you."

"I just want him to stop hurting me," Magenta whispered, her voice trembling.

"This isn't the way," Barry insisted, pointing up at the barge. "Your foster father never forgave himself for his mistakes. That's why he took them out on you. He couldn't face who he really is- couldn't move foreword. But you can."

Magenta released a shaky breath, a tear running down her cheek.

And that's when Barry knew he had gotten through to her.

The ship began to move again, away from the top of the building, until it touched safely down on the ground.

"They did it," Joe murmured, and everyone in the Cortex sat back, letting out sighs of relief. Caitlin couldn't help the smile that spread over her face. Barry Allen was truly an amazing person.

The light faded from Magenta's eyes and Frankie was left on the pavement. She looked around in shock, then dove foreword into Barry's arms. "I'm so sorry," she sobbed, burying her face into his suit.

"It's okay," Barry breathed, stroking her hair as people began to stream out of the hospital. "It's going to be okay."

 **Flash!**

Barry arrived back at STAR Labs with a tired, scared, pitiful figure. He passed her off to Caitlin, who met them in the hallway, and she quickly wrapped Frankie in a hug.

"Hey, sweetheart," Caitlin said softly, an overwhelming maternal instinct taking over and making her want to hug Frankie until all of the hurt she was feeling dissipated and stopped looking so _lost_. "How about we get you a chair, okay? Maybe a glass of water?"

Frankie nodded, tucking her head against Caitlin's shoulder as the doctor led her into the Cortex.

Once she was settling, Frankie handed the glass of water to Cisco and looked up at them. There were still tears on her cheeks, pooling in her eyes and making some of her makeup run.

"So no one else got hurt?" she confirmed shakily.

"Luckily, no," Caitlin told her, smiling gently. "You don't have to worry about that."

"What about John?"

"The DA is prosecuting him for what he did to you," Joe told her. "So I think he's gonna be serving time, and he's not going to be anybodies foster father ever again."

Frankie nodded, another tear traveling down her cheek as she shut her eyes for a moment.

"It's just so... _strange_ being responsible for all of this," Frankie said softly. "and not remembering any of it."

Barry tilted his head, watching her. "What do you remember? About how you got your powers. How this all began."

Frankie let out a sigh. "Um... I started having dreams. At night. Of Magenta."

"Dreams?" Wally spoke up, slowly straightening from his lean against the desk.

"They were more then dreams," Frankie continued. "I dunno- it was- it was like I was living another _life_ or something. And then I started getting them all the time. During the day. And the more it happened, the more painful they became. Then I started hearing a voice."

"What voice?" Cisco murmured.

"It was a man," Frankie said. "Named Alchemy."

Barry exchanged glances with Caitlin, and was surprised when she hurriedly looked away, biting her lip.

"He said he could give me what I wanted," Frankie continued. "That he could make me powerful again. I didn't understand. I thought I was going crazy." Her voice broke and Barry gave her a soft smile.

"Trust me; Magenta is not here because of anything that you did," he said soothingly. "There may be a darkness inside of you, but if you face it, it'll make it easier for the good side of you to win."

Caitlin glanced at her feet. It was impossible- Barry didn't even know about her powers- but some small part of her felt like that message was directed towards her.

"You're letting me go?" Frankie asked in a soft voice, breaking Caitlin out of her thoughts.

"None of this is your fault, Frankie," Barry said again. "Caitlin found you a good home in Keystone. People that will never hurt you."

Caitlin nodded in agreement and Frankie smiled a little at her.

She turned back to Barry. "But what if Magenta tries to come back?"

"Fight her," Barry said. "And if you need help, we'll be here. We have faith in you, Frankie."

More tears welled up in Frankie's eyes, but this time, they didn't seem quite as sad.

"Thank you."

 **Flash!**

Caitlin and Barry saw Frankie out. Joe was going to drive her to her new home, and Caitlin gave her a long hug before she left. "Let us know if you need anything, okay?" she said, slipping her phone number into Frankie's hand. "I know a guy who can get me there in a second."

Frankie smiled, and gave Barry a hug, too. "Thank you," she said again. "For everything."

They watched her go, and Caitlin rested her head against Barry's chest. "You did good tonight, Flash," she said softly.

"Frankie's a good person," he responded, sliding his arm around her shoulders. "The light side of her can win- I can feel it."

Caitlin nodded, before turning suddenly to Barry. "I know that we've... I know that we've never really talked about it before, but- Would you- I mean, would you like to- ever have kids? The two of us?"

Barry's eyebrows went up and he glanced at Frankie's retreating back before looking down at Caitlin with a soft look in his eyes. " _Yes_ ," he said, vehemently. "Having a life with you- with kids, with a family, with a house that we can call our own- that's all I've ever wanted."

Caitlin nodded, smiling at him as he leaned down to kiss her.

"But," Barry continued. "I don't know if we're ready for that yet. There's still a lot of things that I need to sort out, and not only that, we haven't even gotten our wedding completely planned yet."

"Yeah," Caitlin agreed quickly. "Yeah, totally."

Her mind flashed to her cold powers, how the demon inside of her was growing every day, and she wondered if that would effect a child. She shivered a little, tucking closer to Barry.

"Someday, we'll make those dreams happen," Barry told her softly. "I promise."

 **Author's Note: Admittedly not my best chapter... which is too bad because it's the first of Snowbarry- Season 3. BUT! Next chapter is 3x07 so that's pretty awesome :)**


	2. 3x07

**Author's Note: THE LONG AWAITED CHAPTER! OOOOH EEEEEM GEEEEE...**

 **OH ANY BY THE WAY!: I've had a brilliant idea. How would you guys feel if I put in a few random scenes from the Season 3 episodes I'm not doing? It would give you guys the episodes you want without all the extra work for me. I was thinking the end of Duet (a lot of people wanted that), the part where Barry sees Caitlin in the future, the part where he sees her with a baby in the speedforce... that kinda stuff.**

 ** _LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!_**

 _Previously on the Flash:_

Cisco knew.

How and why Cisco knew about her powers before Barry did was completely beyond Caitlin. Maybe it was because she needed her friends advice without the involvement of a almost-spouse. Maybe it was because Cisco was pretty darn clear headed, and because she was currently very much not, that's really what she needed.

But now, standing in front of Team Flash, he was about to give it all away.

"Ignoring the problem does not get rid of it," Cisco said softly. He was staring directly at her, even after agreeing with Iris' point about not burying their head in the sand when dealing with Alchemy.

"We have to face it," Cisco continued, and Caitlin swallowed. "Don't we?"

Caitlin gave him the tiniest shake of her head. She could feel her heart starting to pound in a way similar to whenever Barry got in trouble with a meta. How could Cisco do this to her right now?

There was a long, semi-awkward silence in the Cortex. Barry frowned, glancing between the two of them. "What?"

"Nothing," Caitlin muttered.

"Come on, Caitlin," Cisco interrupted.

"Not right now, Cisco!"

"I can't just- I can't just keep this in. You have to tell them!" Cisco exclaimed.

Barry's frowned deepened and he looked at Caitlin in concern. Her throat tightened, like she was going to cry, and she wanted nothing more then to tell him everything and let him hold her until all of this scary, unnatural cold went away.

"Tell them what?" Joe asked.

Caitlin bit her lip. This had gone too far for too long. She supposed it was about time she came clean.

She reached down and unclasped her metahuman cuffs. "I have powers."

"What?" Barry said, staring at her.

"What kind of powers?" Iris questioned, looking between Cisco and her.

Caitlin held up her hands, releasing a long breath and letting frost flow off of her fingertips. She saw everyone's eyes widen, but didn't look away from Barry.

"The cold kind."

Barry's face drained of color and Caitlin looked away, dropping her hands. She glared at Cisco, anger filling her. "Happy now?"

He looked upset. "So, what? We're just going to start keeping secrets from each other?"

"Yeah, well this wasn't your secret to tell, was it, Cisco?" Caitlin snapped.

"I did that because I care about you-"

She cut him off. "If you cared about me then you would have let me tell them all when I was ready!" She was starting to regret her decision of telling Cisco in the first place. She should have just kept it to herself. "Because this is happening to _me_ , not you. _I'm_ the one turning evil. I'm the one who's going to have to leave soon!"

Caitlin felt the tears building up in her throat and grabbed her meta cuffs, spinning away from the desk and the rest of her team.

She left a subdued silence in the Cortex. Cisco broke it. "I vibed the two of us fighting in the future," he said softly. "She was Killer Frost." He let out a long, slow sigh. "I'll go talk to her-"

"I got it," Barry interrupted. It was the first thing he had said since Caitlin told him she had powers, and he waved his hand at Cisco and strode after his fiancé.

He found her in one of her medical rooms, zipping up her sleeves over the lightly glowing metahuman cuffs. He took a seat in front of her, and she slowly turned her swivel chair to face him, not speaking.

"How long have you known?"

Caitlin swallowed. She knew the question was coming but it didn't make it any harder to answer. "A few months. At first I didn't want to accept what was happening to me. Then I had to. So then I tried to suppress my powers." She stopped for a moment, gesturing toward her cuffs. "There's no suppressing these powers."

She stopped again, taking a deep breath and trying not to break into tears. "I just... can't believe that this is my life."

"It shouldn't be," Barry breathed, rubbing his forehead. "None of this should be. I should have noticed something was up- I should have helped you through this. What kind of a husband am I going to be if I don't even notice that you have powers and are scared about something?"

Caitlin shook her head, wiping a couple of unbidden tears away from her eyes with the back of her hand. "It's not- It's my fault. I should have- I should have told you when I discovered I had powers- I was just so- so-" She broke off, smothering a sob. "I was so _scared_ , and I don't want to leave Team Flash and I- I don't want to leave _you_ , but I don't want to hurt anyone-"

Barry stood up and pulled her into a hug. She let out another sob, pressing her face into his shoulder. "I'm so- I'm so sorry-"

"Shh..." Barry murmured. "Don't apologize, okay? It's over now. Now you have me and we can work through this together. That's what couples do, right?"

She nodded, curling into his arms a little more. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

Barry let out a sigh, hugging her tightly. "I am so much less then what you deserve."

( **Hey, did you read the Author's Note? If not, please do, because I make an important announcement in it regarding this story. Thanks!)**

 _Present time:_

Wally had gone to Alchemy to get his speed. Joe was chasing after Alchemy and the Philosopher's Stone, trying to get a hit in with his gun, and Barry was running all over the city.

Or rather, Barry's tracker was fritzing so much it made him look like he was running all over the city.

"What's happening?" Iris asked, staring at the little blips of Barry's tracker popping up all over the map.

"I don't understand," Cisco muttered, shaking his head. "The suit's tracker must be malfunctioning. It says he's appearing and reappearing all over the city at once. That's impossible- he can't be moving that fast."

"He can't," HR (the newest addition of an Earth Wells doppelganger, a few weeks old to the Team). "But maybe something else can."

A pit sank in Caitlin's stomach. It made sense: Barry being pressed up against the wall by seemingly nothing. The tracker blipping all over the city. And everything that had happened in Alchemy's lair earlier that evening.

At the waterfront, Barry finally rolled to a stop on the ground. A being popped out of a blue rip in the air.

Savitar, the god of speed, stared down at Barry. "Had enough?"

Barry glared back up at him, panting. "Not even close."

He jolted to his feet and raced toward Savitar, but before he could even flash more then a few feet, the metal-plated being zipped to the side and slammed into him.

He tossed him back and forth across the waterfront landing, before landing a hard punch to Barry's gut. Barry let out a groan, hearing something crack.

He rolled onto his stomach, panting, and the tracker at STAR Labs finally came to rest. "Look," Cisco said, pointing at the screen. "It stopped. He's at the waterfront."

"We have to get to him," Caitlin said urgently.

"And do what?" Cisco asked. "He's fighting and invisible force that's too fast to track!"

"If I may," HR interjected, raising his hand "I have a plan-"

" _No_ ," Cisco cut him off immediately.

"Pretty good plan-"

"Put your hand down."

"It's a question in numbers," HR said, continuing anyway. "Because right now, it seems to be one against one, but! What if... there were _three_ against one? You know what I'm saying?"

"Cisco," Iris spoke up, turning to her boyfriend and Caitlin. "You can open a breach and get you both to the waterfront."

Caitlin bit her lip, not liking this plan at all. "Guys, I can't," she said gesturing to her cuffs. "It's too dangerous."

"Please," Iris said. "Caitlin, he's you're fiancé. _Please_."

Caitlin took a deep breath, exchanged a glance with Cisco, and nodded.

They appeared at the waterfront and found Barry held up by a chokehold of what seemed to be air. Caitlin bit her lip again, harder. "I can't see it!"

"JUST DO IT!" Cisco yelled, on his knees with a hand at his head from the strain of creating a breach.

Caitlin lifted her hands, concentrated, and sent a stream of ice towards Barry's invisible foe. Soon enough, a shape began to form: large, hulking, and inhuman.

All too soon, however, the ice cracked and there was a flash of blue lightning before Barry crumpled back to the ground.

"Ooooh!" Cisco stood up with a groan, rubbing his head and taking off his goggles. "Whew-y! I'm gonna feel that tomorrow. That was a new and painful use of my powers."

Barry lay on his back in the pile of ice chips. Caitlin walked up to him, followed by the hobbling Cisco, and helped him up. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Barry breathed, wobbling on one foot and a knee, hand still on the ground. "Just cold."

She nodded, knowing the feeling uncomfortably well.

Barry glanced at her, smiling softly. "Thanks for coming."

 **Flash!**

They found themselves back at STAR Labs, and Caitlin started a quick checkup.

"Barry, you're already healing; you should be fine soon. Uh, Cisco, the MRI that I did of your brain shows changes in the capillary morphology similar to that of a mini stroke," Caitlin recapped, coming over to stand by the bed where Cisco was lying, hand on his forehead. "I wouldn't try and inter-dimensional breach like that anytime soon."

"Okay, okay," Cisco said, sitting up with a worried look on his face. "You can't just gloss over that, okay? W-w-what does that even mean- am I gonna have this migraine for for the rest of my life?!"

Caitlin stared down at him, unamused. "It means that you should take a few Aspirin and you'll be fine."

"Oh," Cisco huffed. "Well, just... lead with that, next time."

She nodded, fighting a smile, and Barry spoke up. "Cait, uh... I know what a risk you took using your powers. Thank you."

Caitlin felt a tiny seed of warmth grow in her chest at those words. "I didn't do anything," she said, shrugging.

"Well, you save my life," Barry said.

"You've saved mine plenty of times," Caitlin deflected. She glanced away from him, toward the strange cocoon that Wally West was currently enveloped in. "I'm gonna go check on Wally."

She turned away from them and walked out of her lab. As she did so, a sudden flash of cold shot through her blood. She was suddenly furious. Furious at Cisco for overreacting about his minor injury when it was _her_ that had risked everything. Furious at Barry for putting her into a position where she was forced to use her powers. Furious at the entire team at not being even slightly more sensitive about how delicate the problem of her powers was.

Then the feeling was gone and Caitlin shook herself. She shivered, shaking her head a little to clear it, and hurriedly walked over to Wally's cocoon.

What was going on with her?

 **Flash!**

"Wally!" Joe cried, rushing into the Cortex. He found Barry, Cisco and Iris all sitting around the cocoon lying on the bed. "What happened?"

"Uh... hey Joe," Cisco said awkwardly. "What do you mean?"

"Caitlin came by the precinct; she said that Wally was out. That he was okay."

Iris frowned. "I didn't even see her leave."

Realization filled Barry at sickening speed. He got to his feet and ran.

When he got to the precinct his fears were confirmed. Julian Albert had been kidnapped, and a strange icy meta had gotten into an interrogation room.

"She took out the security camera so we couldn't ID her," one of the cops said, playing the feed for Barry. "I thought maybe you'd recognize her."

Barry swallowed. He did a bit more then recognize her. "Uh, no. Why would she take Julian?"

"She's a meta," the cop snapped, preparing his gun. "They're all crazy. But, uh, don't worry. We'll get her."

Barry shook his head slowly. That was _exactly_ what he was worried about.

He leaned back over the cam, watching the feed on a loop. "What're you doing, Cait?"

 **Flash!**

"So they know she took Julian?" Joe asked after Barry debriefed the team on what had happened at the CCPD.

"No, they don't- they don't even know that it's Caitlin. Yet. So we need to find her before they do," Barry responded. He felt like a mess, like his whole world was starting to fall into pieces. This was worse then any sort of outcome he could have dreamed off after Caitlin had told him she had powers. She was out there- alone, scared, hunted- and they had no idea where.

"Now, what about this Savitar?" HR spoke up thoughtfully.

"Let's find Caitlin and then we can worry about Savitar," Barry snapped, cutting him off. He didn't need anyone getting distracted from their current most-important-problem.

"You know guys, I- I agree with Barry," HR said immediately. "Let's find Caitlin."

"Okay, you're right," Iris said. "When we find Caitlin, then what?"

Barry rubbed the back of his neck. He hadn't thought that far ahead. "I... I don't know- she's not thinking straight-"

"She's becoming Killer Frost," Cisco muttered. "It's just like in the vibe."

Barry's stomach tightened. "We don't know that yet."

"Her mother said that the more she uses her powers, the faster she's gonna go. And saving you from Savitar... that must have put her over the edge."

Guilt coiled in Barry's stomach. All of this was his fault.

"Alright, how do we find her?" he asked, trying to steer the conversation away from a subject that he was sure would be touchy for him.

"I don't know- I tried pinging her phone, and Julian's, but she must have dished them both."

"Ahem!" HR cleared his throat importantly. "I'm a may..."

"Oh," Cisco snarked. "More suggestions from the genius over here."

"You don't call the genius, the genius calls you," HR responded immediately, and somewhat confusingly. "QUESTION! How did you catch your Captain Cold? I've been reading about him in your files and he seems like a wily fellow- slow talker, but his MO is strikingly similar to our dear Caitlin's."

"What? No!" Cisco rolled his eyes, annoyed. "We tracked him using the satellites to scan for ultraviolet cold signatures..." He trailed off, and Barry could immediately tell that he had gotten something. "Oh. Okay."

He leaned over the computer, Iris standing up to peer over his shoulder at the screen. Barry walked around the desk to join them, almost buzzing with anticipation.

"No... nothing in the precinct..." Cisco muttered, peering at the computer.

"What's that?" Barry asked, nodding at a blip on the screen.

Cisco zoomed in.

"Transit food warehouse," Iris read, glancing over at Barry to gauge his reaction.

Cisco brought up a camera from inside the warehouse. "There she is. Okay, I'm gonna isolate the feed so no one else can see it."

"You guys figure out what she's making Julian do," Barry ordered, pulling away from the desk. "I'm going."

He had flashed out before anyone had time to argue.

 **Flash!**

Caitlin and Julian were both hunched over a computer at the warehouse. "I've found two individuals that searched for the name Savitar," Julian reported. Caitlin had frozen his arm less then an hour before when he had contacted the police, but Julian still had trouble believing that she was an evil meta. She was Barry Allen's fiancé- he had _met_ her. She hadn't seemed evil then, and he didn't know why she would be now.

It didn't change the fact that he still thought she deserved to be locked up for everyone's safety.

"Here are both their addresses," he continued. "Both of them are in Central City." He turned his gaze to her a little nervously. "What exactly are you going to do to them."

Caitlin was silent for a long moment, her strangely blue eyes looking unsure and almost like herself for the first time since she had kidnapped him. "I... don't know."

She turned away, blinking a few times and shaking her head. "What am I doing...?" she whispered to herself.

The sound of typing made her turn. Julian glanced up from the computer, eyes opening with guilty fear. Before she thought, Caitlin sent an icicle at the computer, smashing the screen and sending it sliding off the table.

"What part of I'll freeze you to death did you not understand?!" she yelled angrily. Julian backed into the corner as she held up her hands, swirling with frost. She saw true fear in his eyes, and it brought her a great deal of satisfaction. Julian had been nothing but an annoyance and trouble to Barry ever since he had come to the precinct-

 _Barry_.

At that exact moment, a familiar flash of yellow lightning sped into the room. Caitlin's hands fell to her sides as Barry held up his own. "Stop."

Her eyes immediately faded to brown. "Get out of here," she pleaded. She didn't want to have to hurt him- didn't think that she _could_ , but she needed to keep searching for Alchemy.

"You know I can't," Barry breathed, stepping foreword.

"What're you doing?" Julian muttered behind him. "Take her out."

"You don't want to do this," Barry insisted, taking another step towards her and ignoring Julian. She turned away. "You don't want to hurt anybody."

"She's going to hurt someone! Knock her out!"

In a sudden rash movement, Barry lit out with one of his fists and knocked Julian in the forehead. He crumpled back against the table, unconscious.

"Caitlin," Barry pleaded.

She turned back to him, feeling tears burning behind her eyes and hating the feeling. "Leave me _alone_."

"What are you doing?"

"I have to find Alchemy!" Caitlin exclaimed.

"We will find him," Barry told her firmly. " _Together_."

Caitlin tugged a hand through her hair. "No- you don't understand. I don't want to lock him up, I need him to _help_ me."

"Help you with what?"

" _I need him to get rid of my powers!_ "

There. It was finally out of the bag. The real reason she was doing all of this, the reason she was panicking and the reason she had gone against every moral that she had _ever_ had. She couldn't keep these powers. She couldn't be a danger to her friends.

Barry's eyes softened. "I- I don't think it works that way."

"You don't know that it doesn't," Caitlin said, eyes glittering with tears.

"I know that I love you."

Caitlin's lips pressed together to hold in a sob. Barry took another step foreword, reaching for her.

"I will do everything I can to help you," he continued. "You and I- we- we've been through too much together to let each other down now. Please. Let me help you?"

Suddenly, something inside of her just snapped. Caitlin's eyes went electric blue. "Like you helped your mother?" she said, voice icy cold.

Barry felt like something had been stabbed into his stomach. "Caitlin-"

"Or Ronnie? Or me?" Caitlin continued, the icy cold Killer-Frost-Fury inside of her unable to stop. "You keep messing with everyone's lives- wrecking _everything_ \- and we're left behind to pick up the pieces from _your_ mistakes! Somethings you break can't be put back together."

Barry swallowed hard. "I can fix this," he said, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Oh, like you fixed everything when I got these powers?" Caitlin exploded. "You leaned on all of us to heal from your father's death, but forgot about everything that _we_ might be going through. My fear _destroyed_ me, but yet I was the one holding _you_ when you got nightmares in the middle of the night. How was I supposed to stay strong when I didn't even have my _fiancé_ to lean on?!"

Barry took a step back, hurt flashing across his face.

The sudden sound of gun's cocking echoed across the room.

"Albert's down!" a voice yelled. "Shoot her!"

Caitlin turned toward the noise, raising her hands in icy defense, and just glimpsed the barrel of at least six guns pointed straight at her before she was moving. Barry grabbed her around the waist and ran her out of harm's way, stopping them both behind a shipping container.

He rested his hand on her shoulder for a moment when they came to a stop, but forced himself away and peeked around the corner. Furious, Caitlin glanced at her hand and watched a deadly sharp icicle form in her palm. Then she turned and slammed it into Barry's calf.

He cried out in pain, and the sound almost made her sick. Then the cold took over again and she glared at him. "That severed your tricep suri," she said. "Even _with_ your healing abilities it'll take four hours to regenerate- _don't follow me_."

She hurled herself to her feet and ran.

 **Flash!**

"How much does it hurt?" Iris asked as she finished wrapping Barry's leg in gauze.

He was sitting on the medical bed in Caitlin's lab, unsure of whether he wanted to ignore the world around him or pretend that it was _her_ patching him up, like she had done a hundred times before.

"As much as I deserve," Barry murmured in answer, pulling down his pant leg.

Joe walked into the room, putting his phone away in his pocket. "They took Julian to County General. He's still out cold. How hard did you hit him?"

Barry let out a breath. "I dunno... I didn't mean to knock him out." He reconsidered and shrugged a little, wincing as he tugged his shoe onto his bad leg. "Well... maybe I did."

Iris and Joe followed him back into the Cortex where Cisco was working. "I hacked Julian's computer," he reported, moving over to the desk. Iris walked over and stood behind him, rubbing her fingers over his shoulders. "Caitlin had him look up two addresses," he continued, hitting a few keys before his shoulder's relaxed under Iris' touch. "16 Hawthorn Avenue and 1104 Trimming Place."

"She's trying to find the acolytes," HR said from the corner, raising his drumstick.

"What would she want with Alchemy's followers?" Iris mused, looking down at the addresses and then back up at Barry.

"She must think that they can take her to Alchemy- she wants him to take her powers away." Barry's voice cracked a little. Somehow, even with everything she was doing, Caitlin's motives were so innocent it amazed him.

"We know- we heard everything," Cisco glanced up at him. "What she said..."

Barry shook his head. "She's right. She's completely right. This is all on me."

"Barry-" Iris started.

He shook his head again, shutting his eyes. "Just... just stop, okay?"

"Well," Cisco said quickly. "Two acolytes, two addresses. Which one are we going to hit first?"

"We gotta watch both-" Barry started, turning away from the desk.

"You're gonna stay here," Cisco said firmly. "You can barely walk. I'll take Hawthorn."

"I'll take Trimming!" HR called, hopping up from his chair and following Cisco towards the door.

Joe nodded. "I care about Caitlin- but I don't wanna leave Wally."

"Dad," Iris spoke up. "Barry and I will stay with Wally. You go with HR."

"Oh!" HR turned around, coffee almost sloshing over the side of him mug. "Oh, yeah, I would love that. You and me: All star team up! You know, I'll make a couple cappuccinos for the road. So we're ready for tonight's adventures- hey." he stopped and turned toward Barry. "Not to worry, Barry. We'll help her!"

He grinned and bobbed out of the door.

Barry let out a slow sigh, dipping his head foreword to hand between his arms.

How had this gone so wrong, so fast?

 **Flash!**

Caitlin had just heard the prophecy about her future as Killer Frost when a yell cut the silence.

" _CAITLIN_!"

 _Cisco_.

Caitlin spun and headed for the door, glaring back one more time at the Alchemy acolyte. She ran outside and came to a stop in the dark road, raising her eyebrow at Cisco. "Really. You brought your toys?"

He was dressed in full Vibe gear, and had his feet planted. He didn't look nearly as scared as she would have thought. She was a little impressed.

"I'm hoping it won't come to that," Cisco said seriously, staring at her.

Caitlin clenched her fists, preparing herself. "It won't."

"Look, I'm not leaving you out here," Cisco continued. "I want to help you."

"There's only one person who can help me."

"Really?" Cisco shook his head. "You _really_ think seeking medical advice from someone named Dr. Alchemy is the way to go?"

If it had been any other time, that might had made Caitlin laugh. Now she just smirked and shrugged. "Why not? _My_ name is Killer Frost."

" _Your name_ ," Cisco cut her off. "Is Caitlin Snow."

The icy fury took hold again and Caitlin raised her frost-steaming hands. "Can Caitlin Snow do this?"

She sent five icicles toward Cisco, one after the other, and he bolted for cover. Two of them hit the tree he dove behind, digging in deep into the wood.

"Caitlin, please!" Cisco yelled, peeking a tiny bit around the tree. He was forced to duck back as a sixth icicle came shooting toward him, centimeters from his head.

When Cisco pulled out next, he had his goggles on. He sent a vibe-blast straight at her and Caitlin ducked. It just missed her.

A bolt of yellow lightning zipped down the street and Caitlin gritted her teeth, sending a couple icicles at Barry. He flashed behind a car, then ran towards her, and Caitlin sent a stream of ice onto the road.

Barry slipped, landing on his back and sliding until he nearly hit her feet.

Caitlin stepped over to him, smirking. "How's the leg?"

Suddenly, Barry swept one arm across her ankles. Caitlin flipped foreword, the breath knocked out of her as she landed. She flopped back on her back, lying next to Barry and sending him a dirty look.

"I'm sorry, Caitlin," he breathed, glancing over at her.

"That was cold, Flash," Caitlin admitted. "But this is colder."

She swung herself over until she was laying on top of his chest and pressed her lips against his.

Barry kissed her back unconsciously- of course he did; it was _Caitlin_ , his fiancé, who he had kissed a hundred times before- but in a second he realized something felt strange.

Something felt _cold_.

His face was slowly beginning to freeze, Caitlin sucking all of the heat out of his body and into her through their pressed lips.

Abruptly, Caitlin was slammed away from him by a vibe-blast. She flew off of his chest and slammed into the glass of a car, cracking it and then tumbling off the side.

Cisco ran over to where Barry was lying and crouched down by his blue-faced friend. "Start vibrating," he instructed. "It'll warm you up."

Soon, steam was rising off of Barry in plumes and he was groaning, rolling over. He was stiff all over, but the only thing he could think about was that this was it.

If Caitlin had tried to kill him... how could he possibly bring her back?

 **Flash!**

When Caitlin woke up, she was in a cell in the Pipeline. She blinked awake, staring out at numerous feet of Team Flash, and rolled to a sitting position.

"Oof!" Caitlin stood up, smiling charmingly out at her friends. "Guess I just needed a little sleep. Thanks guys. I'm feeling much better now."

Everyone stared stolidly back at her.

"It's okay," she said. "I promise I'm not gonna hurt anybody."

Silence.

"Hmm. Guess you're all smarter then I thought." Caitlin shrugged, walking closer to the glass. "Ya know, that was some blast there, Vibe-boy," she said to Cisco. "Kinda hurt."

Cisco shook his head. "I didn't want to hurt you."

She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You're pathetic."

"Alchemy can't help you," Barry said, speaking up for the first time. "But we can. I promise."

"Oh, like you promised Eddie?" Caitlin asked, shooting him a fake smile. She didn't miss the flicker fo pain that flitted across Barry's face. "And like you promised Ronnie? You know, for a hero, Flash, you sure let a lot of people around you _die_."

Barry glanced away, looking somewhere around her shoes. The worst part, for him, was that he couldn't stop shaking the feeling that all of this pent up anger had to come from somewhere. Through all of that sweet, forgiving, caring, beautiful exterior, it seemed that Caitlin really _did_ blame him for all of the deaths that Team Flash had had to go through over the years.

"This isn't you talking," he muttered, almost more for himself then her. "It's the powers; they're messing with your mind. You're sick."

Caitlin shook her head. Her next words made him ache.

"I'm _broken_ , Barry."

She paused, smiling slightly at him. "But what do you care? You have your _Caitlin_. You have your angelic supporter. You've just chosen to ignore the fact that there's more to her then her innocent outside. Look at this, Barry: do you really wonder why Caitlin never dared show her powers to you? Because you would have just _locked her up_. You're not going to _help_ her. You just want her to be back to "normal".

'But you know what?" Caitlin continued. "Let me go, and I will leave you to your _sad_ and _miserable_ lives."

"No," Barry said firmly. "We're not abandoning you."

"You don't care _what_ happens to me!" Caitlin yelled, lurching foreword toward the glass, eyes glowing white.

Barry shut the Pipeline door, leaving her in darkness.

 **Flash!**

Barry held himself together until he reached the speed lab. No one was around, and he let himself fall unto the treadmill and cry.

Too much had happened today. Too much had come to light, all at once- Savitar, Wally, Caitlin's true feelings. And he still was unable to get out of his mind that _this was how she felt_. She had never truly felt like he was there for her. She had never really _believed_ the words she had told him, about forgiveness and not taking the blame and how she would always love him no matter what.

He dropped his head into his hands, trying to stem the flow of tears before it all came rushing out in a torrent that he would never be able to stop.

The sound of footsteps made him look up. Iris came slowly down the stairs, smiling sadly when she saw him drop his head again and rub at his eyes.

"Hey," she said softly. "What're you doing down here?"

"Just... needed some time," Barry muttered into his hands. "To think for a bit."

"She doesn't mean what she said, you know that, right?" Iris said, sitting down beside him. "That isn't her down there in the pipeline."

"Yeah, that's what I keep trying to tell myself," Barry mumbled, rubbing his face. "Except that _was_ her. Same face, same voice, same Caitlin. We're getting married in less then a year, Iris. If she's- if she's feeling like that... how can I possibly call myself "husband" if I'm not even there when she needs me?!"

His voice broke and he buried his face in his arms, letting out a sob. Iris reached over and gently rubbed his back.

"Why didn't I just see what was going on with her?" Barry asked, voice thick.

"Because you've been going through a tough time, lately," Iris said soothingly. "You needed to shut yourself off- you needed to focus on _you_. Barry, when was the last time you did that?"

Barry shook his head. "A relationship is never about one person. I should have talked to her. I should have checked in on her. I should have _noticed_."

"You've gotta stop doing this to yourself," Iris pleaded, trying to get him to look at her. "You have to stop going through the what-ifs, Barry. We need you to be strong right now, just like I know you can be. I know you don't want to be the leader right now, but we need you. _Caitlin_ needs you. And no matter how much you think you have, you have _never_ let her down. Are you really going to start now, when she needs you the most?"

Barry nodded, and Iris pulled him in for a quick hug. They were just getting to their feet when the lights flickered eerily.

The adoptive-siblings exchanged glances and ran for the Cortex.

 **Flash!**

When Barry, Cisco and Iris reached the Cortex, Barry barely had time to move everyone out of the way before Wally's cocoon exploded.

Joe had decided that he was going to take it upon himself to cut Wally out of his shell, no matter how many times Caitlin had said that it wasn't a good idea. Now Barry rose up on his elbow and blinked spots out of his eyes, dreading what was about to happen.

Wally wasn't a pile of goo, but something definitely wasn't right. He was vibrating all over, like Barry did when he tried to phase, and he didn't seem to know quite where he was.

"Wally?" Joe whispered, pulling himself up from behind the table he had crashed behind.

Wally's head turned towards the noise. Iris stared at him, Cisco's hand resting on her arm as he made sure she was okay.

"Wally?" Barry echoed, moving foreword slightly.

Wally once again turned toward the noise, but in a second he had flashed out of the Cortex and was gone from view.

There was a long silence as everyone collected themselves. "Joe..." Barry trailed off, rubbing his hands over his neck and staring at the wreckage of Wally's cocoon.

"What did I do?" Joe muttered, staring at the floor in shock.

"Was this your idea?!" Barry cried, glaring at HR.

HR huffed. "No. Joe. I was helping Joe."

"No sign of Wally," Cisco reported, coming around the desk with his tablet. "I've got the satellite to scan the entire city for rapid movement."

"If he's a speedster he could be halfway across the country by now," Barry muttered, furious and stressed.

"Barry, we have to find him," Iris spoke up.

Barry shook his head. "I'm more worried about what happens when we _do_ find him," he admitted. "He didn't seem like he was all there, Iris."

Iris' gaze dropped and Cisco reached down, taking her hand. She smiled faintly at him, squeezing it.

"I shouldn't have cut him out of that thing," Joe said, self-hate evident in his voice.

"Joe, I-" Barry stopped himself before he got too deep into this conversation. "What we need right now is a biochemist."

Joe stared hard at him. "You've gotta go talk to her, Baer."

Barry stilled, let out a long breath, and nodded.

Then he turned and headed for the Pipeline.

 **Flash!**

Caitlin stood up when Barry opened up the Pipeline door.

"We need your help," he said softly, staring at her with a look so gentle it rather surprised her. Caitlin would have thought he would have been angry at her, or hurt, but instead he just looked...

Sad.

"Caitlin," Barry said, and she snapped back to attention. "Wally, he's- he's out of the cocoon, but his biochemistry is all out of wack. He went AWOL."

"So?"

"So when we find him he's gonna need your help," Barry elaborated. "He's going to need your medical expertise; your experience with Metas. What he needs is Caitlin Snow, MD."

Caitlin grinned and leaned against the wall. She looked mildly impressed. "So you came to talk some sense into me."

This was where Barry's plan came into place. It was risky, but he trusted Caitlin more then he had ever trusted anyone else in his life before. She had never once betrayed him, never once done anything for herself. It was time for him to give her the opportunity that she needed to get _herself_ back from this awful place.

"No," he said, walking over to the Pipeline controls. "I came to let you go."

The glass doors swung open and Caitlin walked cautiously out, tilting her head. "For a smart guy... that was an awfully dumb move."

Barry shook his head, staring down into her blue-tinted eyes. "Like I said, you're free to go."

She squinted at him, not buying it. "What's the catch?"

"You have to kill me."

Caitlin glared at him, "You wanna _fight_ , Flash?"

Barry could have fist pumped. This was exactly the reaction he had hope for. If Caitlin was truly gone, she wouldn't have even hesitated in slamming an icicle into his chest and stepping on his dead body on the way out the door.

"No," he said, keeping his face emotionless. "I'm not gonna fight you. But if you want to leave this room... you're going to have to kill me."

"Don't think I won't," Caitlin hissed.

Barry shrugged. "Then do it."

Caitlin's eyes flashed white and she glanced down at her hand. A single, sharp icicle formed between her fingertips and she lifted it up, level to Barry's heart.

Well... Barry's heart was somewhere in his throat right now but it was aimed at where his heart _should_ be.

"What're you waiting for?" Barry challenged. He could see the struggle on her face, in the way she shifted her weight, in the tightening of her jaw. He was getting to her. "Come one, what's the big deal? Live up to your name: _Killer Frost_. I wanna see some killing. You want to be the villain? This is what they do- they kill their friends, because nothing matters to them anymore, right? _Right?!_ "

He grabbed her wrist, pressing the point of the icicle against his own chest and making her jump. Caitlin's lips were pressed together, her face a mask of fury and something else... something a bit more human.

"Come on," Barry whispered, glaring at her. " _Kill me, Caitlin_."

Her lips started to wobble and he could see her swallow. Barry leaned a little closer. "You can't do it," he whispered. "You can't. Because underneath all that cold you're still you. You're still the woman I love."

There was a long tense silence.

Then Caitlin's lips parted and her eyes turned abruptly back to brown.

She gasped, icicle falling and shattering on the floor, and immediately burst into tears. " _Barry_ -"

Barry wrapped his arms around her, hugging her so tightly she thought she might feel a little bit of the warmth she thought she would never get back creeping back into her. "It's okay," he whispered into her hair, pressing his lips to her temple and rocking her back and forth. "I got you. It's okay."

And who knows? Maybe it would be.

 **Flash!**

"I think extracting Wally early from that cocoon left him in a fugue state. His synapsis aren't used to functioning at super speed, so his mind and muscles are misfiring."

Caitlin's hair was back to being almost completely brown. She was currently in one of the medical rooms, explaining what had happened to Wally to the rest of the team.

"Will this stuff help?" Joe asked, gesturing at the small vial of serum Caitlin had just pulled from the machine.

"I've synthesized a neural compound that I think will get his mind and body running at the same speed."

"We just have to find him first," Iris said, glancing at Barry and Cisco.

HR flipped his hat unto his head and spun to the detective. "Where to go, Joe? What's your gut tell you?"

Joe looked surprised to be asked his opinion. His brow furrowed for a moment, before he pointed at Barry. "The house that he grew up in. He used to go there when he missed his mother."

HR clapped triumphantly, and Barry sprung out of his chair to follow Joe. "Let's go."

He stopped at Caitlin and she handed him the vial. He pressed his lips to her's for a brief, soft (thankfully warm) moment. "Thank you."

She nodded, and Joe and Barry flashed out to go neutralize Wally.

When they got back, an unconscious Wally West in tow, Caitlin did a quick checkup on the new speedster before determining that he was go to go home.

"I think that maybe we should head home, too," Barry said softly, watching Caitlin's reaction.

Her gaze slipped down to her shoes and she nodded, suddenly looking completely exhausted. Barry wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her outside, slipping into the driver's seat of her car to bring her home.

There was a sort of unspoken agreement between them as they reached Caitlin's apartment that Barry would be staying the night. Caitlin trudged up the stairs ahead of Barry and unlocked her door, before taking off her coat and jewelry and wandering into her bedroom.

Barry followed her, hanging his coat on the hook and slipping off his shoes. He felt tense, and unsure of how the inevitable conversation between them of what had happened today was going to go.

He decided that he should speak first, and followed Caitlin into her bedroom before he said anything.

"I... I wanted to apologize," Barry started. He hated how stiff and fake his words sounded, but he wasn't quite sure what else to say without completely falling to pieces. "What happened today... that was on me. And everything you said... you- you're right."

" _No_ ," Caitlin said angrily, turning around, eyes red-rimmed. "No, don't do that."

"What?"

"Don't act like this was on you. What happened today... that was _me_. _I_ was the one who didn't tell you about my powers. _I_ was the one that hurt you. _I_ am the one that you shouldn't even be wanting to _look at_ , because I could have killed you _all_ today and you would still somehow love me!"

Her voice broke suddenly, and Caitlin gasped out a small sob. She turned abruptly and ran into the bathroom, and Barry heard the door lock behind her.

Barry hurried after her, trying the handle even though he knew it wouldn't turn. He could hear the sound of her sobs through the door, the soft thump of her trembling back hitting the wall.

"Caitlin... let me in," Barry pleaded. "Please?"

"Go away," Caitlin sniffled. "I don't want to- I can't hurt you anymore."

"Caitlin, I swear, I will phase through this door," Barry threatened.

"I want to be alone."

Barry sighed, and phased through the wood so he was crouching beside her. "No you don't," he said softly, placing his hand on her hair.

She was curled up on the tile floor, her face buried into her knees. He could see the soft glowing blue of her power-dampening cuffs through her shirt sleeves, and she shuddered slightly when he touched her.

"Come here," Barry whispered, tugged her into his arms and standing up, carrying her back to her bedroom.

He set her down on the mattress and crouched on the floor in front of her, forcing her to look at him. "If I say I forgive you, will you forgive me?"

"I don't deserve forgiveness," Caitlin mumbled.

"Cait, everyone makes mistakes," Barry said, taking her hands. He was reminded of a couple of months ago, when they had sat in the same position after Caitlin had escaped from Zoom. He wished he could say that their life had gotten better since then, but he wasn't sure that it had. "Everyone has rough days and rough times, and just because you are the most amazing, perfect woman I have ever met it doesn't mean that that rule exceeds you, okay? Seeing you like this- see you go through this- as much as it kills me it also amazes me, because the fact that you could come back from all of this in time to help your team shows me how crazy strong you are. Stronger then I think any of us know."

Caitlin blinked at him, teardrops balancing on her eyelashes.

"You are no more at fault here then I am," Barry continued. "Even though you say it's not my fault, I should have been more focused on your needs and your struggles. This relationship isn't all about making sure I'm okay. You've gone through just as much hardship as I have, and I forget that because you are always there, you're always steady, you're always _okay_. And it's not fair of me to think that. Everyone needs to break sometimes. But I promise you, Caitlin: you _can_ be fixed."

Caitlin bit her lip hard and nodded, sucking in a shaky breath. Barry stood up and flashed around the room for a second. When he stopped moving, both of them were in pajamas and the bedsheets were turned down.

Caitlin crawled into bed and Barry wrapped himself around her, sighing into her hair.

"I love you," he whispered, kissing her forehead. "And I know I don't say it nearly enough, or maybe even at all, but Caitlin Snow: you amaze me."

 **Flash!**

Julian was awake.

Barry set off down the hallway of the hospital Julian was staying in, and arrived at his partner's room just in time. Detective Patterson was walking down the hallway himself, headed to take Julian's statement.

"Is it... okay if I talk to him first?" Barry asked awkwardly. Now that he had promised Caitlin that everything would be okay, that he would keep Julian from revealing that she was Killer Frost to the world, he intended to keep that promise. "We're pretty close, and I just want to make sure he's okay."

"Yeah, go ahead," Detective Patterson agreed, checking his watch. "Just make it quick, okay?"

Barry nodded and slipped past the large detective, opening the door to Julian's room.

Caitlin had slept late that morning, and Barry had left for STAR Labs before she had woken up. They had been testing Wally's speed when she walked in.

After apologizing to Cisco about everything that had happened the day before, Caitlin joined the Team in watching Wally's vitals and adjusting to his new abilities. Then Joe had gotten the text that Julian was awake, and Barry had run off to see what he could do to protect Caitlin's identity.

There was no chance that Julian didn't know who she was; Caitlin had been to Barry's lab countless times before, and she introduced herself nearly every time just to make sure that he didn't feel out-of-the-loop. He had never been particularly nice to her- or even interacted with her- but he without a doubt he knew who she was.

"Ah," Julian said when Barry walked in, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey," Barry greeted, closing the door behind him.

"A hospital visit. I didn't think you missed me that much."

"What did the doctors say?" Barry asked, ignoring his sarcasm. As much as Julian annoyed him, they had gotten a little closer over the past few weeks. Not only that, but Barry just had the innate nature to worry about anyone he knew that had gotten hurt because of him or his friends.

"Uh... concussion and frostbite," Julian answer offhandedly. "But I'll be dandy in a few days."

"That's good news," Barry said honestly. "I'm glad you're gonna be alright."

"Yes, well, as much as I appreciate your outburst of emotion, I think we both know the real reason you're here."

Barry opened his mouth to respond, but Julian cut him off. "You're girlfriend-"

"Fiancé."

"Whatever. Caitlin Snow. She's a meta. And not one of the friendly ones. Did you know?"

Barry couldn't look him in the eye. If only he knew the whole story, everything that Caitlin had had to go through over the years, everything that had built up to the final moment of her breaking into a million pieces of frozen and cold and evil.

"She's sick, Julian," Barry murmured.

"She is a _bloody menace_ ," Julian growled, striding foreword and gesturing to his arm, which was wrapped completely from his wrist up to his elbow.

"Julian, I-" Barry stopped and took a deep breath. "Man, I know that you think that getting powers is this binary game where you're either good or evil, but life isn't like that, even for metas. Look, Caitlin... she's a good person. She's... she's one of the best, most amazing people you'll ever meet. I'm begging you- don't turn her in. I will do _anything_ you want but... please don't do this to her."

Julian was silent for a long moment before he let out a sigh. "I got hit pretty hard," he said. "I don't have foggiest who even kidnapped me at all."

A huge weight that Barry hadn't even realized was there lifted from his chest. He let out a long breath, nodding and walking foreword to shake Julian's hand. "Thank you."

Barry was almost to the door when Julian's voice made him stop and turn around. "There is one thing you can do for me."

"Anything," Barry said again, and meant it.

"Quit."

It felt like Barry had been punched in the gut. "What?"

"Tender your resignation from the Central City Police Department, effective immediately," Julian said, making it on no uncertain terms exactly what he was asking. Barry stayed quiet, staring at him in faint horror. "I can overlook that unexplained absences... the constant disregard for the rules and regulations, but your moral compass is broken, my friend."

Julian got to his feet, shaking his head as he looked at Barry. "I point-blank _refuse_ to work with someone who's sense of right and wrong is as flippant as the weather. Someone who thinks "friendship" is more important then justice. You are unfit to be a CSI. Barry Allen has _no place_ in law enforcement. Now do we have an agreement?"

Barry swallowed and nodded, taking a deep, slow breath. He thought of Caitlin, his beautiful, incredible, moral fiancé, and the answer was ice-clear.

"Alright."

He turned and had almost reached the door when Julian stopped him yet again.

"Wait."

Barry turned around. He was tired, he was upset, and all he wanted to do was go back to STAR Labs and find Caitlin to tell her the news. He wasn't sure how she would react at hearing that he had given up his job (and his lifelong dream) for her safety, but he didn't care. He wasn't about to go back on his word.

"What do you want, Julian?" Barry sighed.

"What is Caitlin to you?" Julian asked quietly.

"She's my fiancé-"

"No I _know_ that." Julian rolled his eyes. "But _what is she to you_?"

Barry squinted at him, unsure of why he was asking this, and rubbed his neck absentmindedly as he thought about the question. "Caitlin is... the love of my life. She's my best friend, she's my rock, she keeps me right. If I were to lose her... I would lose everything."

Julian nodded, and Barry was about to leave the room, still confused as to why Julian had asked, when he spoke once again.

"Forget it."

"What?" Barry snapped, now getting really annoyed.

"Forget what I said. I won't tell anyone that she kidnapped me, and you don't have to turn in your resignation papers.

Barry gaped at him, shocked and taken off guard by the complete 360 Julian had just made.

Julian looked up at him and let out a slow breath. "I can tell... that you love her. And I- I've met Dr. Snow before... she's not... she's not the killer that kidnapped me. And maybe you aren't making the right decision in preventing justice from being served but... we all do crazy things for love."

For the second time in the last four minutes, Barry walked over to Julian and shook his hand. "Thank you," he said again. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

Julian smiled faintly. "You can thank me the next time Caitlin doesn't come to your lab for a visit," he said with a smirk. "Now get out of here before I change my mind."

Barry grinned, thinking for the first time in the last few days, maybe everything _was_ going to work out.

 **Author's Note: HOLE CRUD THAT WAS LONG!**

 **So worth it though, am-I-right? Gotta do the most Snowbarry episode of all time it's proper justice :)**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this much-anticipated episode! You probably noticed that I changed that ending a bit- because I'm not doing 3x09 or anything, I decided that I would just have him change his mind and give Barry his job back. But I still felt the need to show how much sacrifice Barry is willing to go through for his Caitlin :)**


	3. 3x13

**Author's Note: Look at us, already on 3x13!**

 **Eh. That was more of an accomplishment when I hadn't only done two episodes.**

"Barry... we don't need to get up yet," Caitlin mumbled as she hooked her arm around Barry's waist and pulled him back down to the bed.

The evening before had been one of the (steadily increasing) times that Caitlin had stayed the night at Barry's newly-bought apartment. It was Saturday morning and they were tangled together in bed, both awake but not motivated enough to move.

"But I'm hungry," Barry complained, but let himself get pulled back to the mattress.

"You're always hungry," Caitlin said fondly, tucking her face against his shoulder and snuggling him closer. "I know your metabolism- you can wait a little longer for food."

He growled playfully, turning her over in bed and kissing her all over her face. Caitlin giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair.

"I love you..." Barry mumbled into her neck. "Love you love you love you love you love you-"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Caitlin laughed, kissing him gently. He playfully bit her bottom lip before pulling back, and she smiled at him. "Stay?"

"Fine," Barry huffed, though he didn't sound particularly grieved about it. He bundled her back under the covers and wrapped his entire lanky frame around her until she was practically smothered in his shirt.

"Uh, can't really breathe, here," Caitlin mumbled, forcing herself up through his arms for air.

Barry laughed, chest rumbling under her cheek, and loosened his grip enough for them both to lay comfortably. Caitlin nestled her head in the crook of his shoulder and shut her eyes.

Barry's phone buzzed.

"No..." Caitlin complained as Barry let out a groan and reached for it. "It's Saturday morning. No one's allowed to text you on Saturday morning."

Barry laughed. "It's Cisco," he said regretfully, glancing at the text. "He said there's a problem at STAR Labs."

Caitlin let out a long sigh and sat up. She stared longingly at her bed for a moment, Barry still sprawled under the covers, and then forced herself to a standing position.

"Let's get you some food."

 **Flash!**

When the two of them arrived at STAR Labs, both a little groggy but dressed and ready to work, they found Jesse Wells standing in the Cortex.

"It's been two weeks since he disappeared," Jesse said. She had just explained that her father had gone missing, and was currently pacing the Cortex floor at a quick, frantic pace. "I mean, no one's seen or heard from him."

"Slow down," Barry said soothingly. "Just start from the beginning, okay? Why did your dad go to the Gorilla City?"

"Wait," Joe said, shaking his head. "Can we slow down even further? What the heck is Gorilla City?"

Jesse took a deep breath. "Okay, so, there are sentient, high intelligent, evolved gorillas on Earth 2, and they all live in a city deep in the heart of Africa."

"We sent Grodd there after he went after Caitlin here," Cisco spoke up.

Barry nodded; he remembered it a bit _too_ well.

"Wait, Grodd's there?" Joe asked. "Why on Earth -any Earth- would your father want to go there?"

"I mean, we received a mathematical cryptogram at our STAR Labs," Jesse explained. "It was highly complex- it took a week to decode it, but my dad did."

"What did it say?"

"It was an invitation from the Gorillas to my dad," Jesse said, crossing her arms almost protectively over her chest.

Barry tilted his head. "Why Harry?"

Jesse shrugged a little. "They wanted to meet him. So, he started an expedition with 10 other people and they went into the jungle, but they failed multiple check-ins, and a search party went in after them. But all they found were the bodies... all of them beaten to death." Jesse's voice shook a little bit and she blinked her eyes rapidly as the rest of the room exchanged glances. "But no one's seen my dad."

She was silent for a long moment, before sniffling. "I mean, is he-"

"No," Barry said, stopping the thought process before it could even start. "No, he's alive. They went to a lot of trouble to get him; they need him for something. We're gonna figure out what that is."

A voice spoke up as the figure of HR Wells came around the corner. "Oh, you guys- I've been looking all over for you. Are we going for coffee or what?"

Jesse's face lit up like a street lamp and she ran across the room, throwing herself at her father's doppelganger. "Dad!"

"Uh," HR looked a bit taken aback, "Oh, yes! That's how you say good morning, people. Hugs- hi!"

Jesse pulled back abruptly, looking confused.

"Jesse- that's not who you think it is," Caitlin spoke up gently. "This is... HR. You met him briefly before you left last time."

Jesse's eyes went wide with embarrassment and she turned back to HR, who gave her a little bow. "At your service, madam."

"He's Harry's replacement," Wally explained.

HR grinned. "Some would say improvement."

"Um," Cisco spoke up awkwardly. "This is Harry's daughter."

"Yeah!"

"He's been kidnapped."

HR clapped a hand to his forehead. "He- I didn't know; I'm so sorry. I thought-"

"Sorry about that," Jesse whispered, not meeting his eyes.

"I'm sorry, too," HR said, looking miserable. "I'm sorry I took the smile off of your face."

Jesse smiled faintly, and walked over to Wally's side. He gave her a gentle look and reached out to squeeze her arm supportively.

Caitlin leaned over the desk, catching Barry's eyes. "What're you thinking about?"

Barry let out a slow sigh. "The future."

A couple of days ago, Barry had accidentally run to the future. He encountered Savitar, and saw him kill Iris right in front of him. Along the way, he had noticed 5 headlines scrolling across a newsfeed:

 _City still recovering after gorilla attack._

 _STAR Labs museum closes._

 _Music Meister gets 6-figure book deal._

 _Joe West honored at City Hall._

The last one chilled Caitlin the most:

 _Killer Frost still at large._

Barry seemed to be completely convinced that if they changed these headlines, the future would change, and Iris wouldn't be killed. He also thought that maybe saving Harry would make sure that the first headline, the one about the Gorillas attacking the city, wouldn't come true.

"I'm going," he said determinedly. "Okay? Harry's my friend, and I'm not going to just abandon him. I'm going back to Earth 2."

"And I suppose you'll want somebody to come with you who's gonna open those breaches for you?" Cisco spoke up.

Barry grinned, "We had so much fun last time," he said, reminding Cisco of their last visit to Earth 2, when he had replaced the Earth 2 Barry and then been kidnapped by Zoom.

"Ish," Cisco said, smirking. "I'm in."

Caitlin bit her lip, feeling a little excited. "I could come, too," she offered. "I have a special connection with Grodd- maybe we can use that to get through to him?"

Barry, surprisingly, nodded. "Yes, okay."

"Great," Jesse said. "I'm coming, too."

Barry pulled a quick face. "Uh... no. I'm sorry Jesse: no."

"Look, I didn't come here for you to take all the risk. I'm going to help."

"You're dad would _kill me_ if I let you come along," Barry disagreed, which was probably the truth.

Jesse's jaw tightened in annoyance. "I'm a speedster now, okay? I can take care of myself."

"I know, which is exactly why I need you to stay here. I mean, this city needs protecting while we're gone," Barry said quickly. "Besides, maybe you can teach Wally a thing or two."

Wally positively beamed, and Jesse raised her eyebrow. "Wait... what is he talking about?"

"Uh..." Wally stepped a little closer to her, wiggling his eyebrows. He raised his hand and vibrated it at super speed.

Jesse nodded, putting on a smile that looked oddly forced. "Wow," she said awkwardly. "So, uh, you're a speedster now?"

"Yeah, we're both speedsters now," Wally said happily.

"Great!" Jesse exclaimed, clearing her throat. "Uh, yeah, great, that's... that's awesome."

She turned and hurriedly walked toward the door, Wally sending a confused glance at her back and glancing at the rest of his team. "I, uh... I thought she'd be more excited then that."

Caitlin shrugged lightly and turned to Barry, not wanting to get involved with the blooming romance. "So... when do we leave?"

 **Flash!**

"Okay, and make sure Wally doesn't-"

"I will."

"Because you know, sometimes he can be a little-"

" _Barry_ ," Iris said firmly, rolling her eyes up at her brother. "I am _very good_ at bossing my little brother around. Okay? Don't worry. Just don't do anything stupid."

"Okay," Barry sighed, giving her a hug.

Iris walked over to Cisco and kissed him. "See you when you get back."

"I might be a changed man," Cisco said warningly, grinning. "All those gorillas... might transform back to my primitive form."

Iris laughed and shoved his shoulder lightly. "As if you're not already in your primitive form."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Be safe," Joe said, hugging Barry. "And hey- you see anything weird, you run. But you don't need me to tell you that."

"I promise," Barry said, smiling.

Caitlin stepped down from the Bunker's upper-floor and smiled at Barry. "You ready?"

"Yep," he said, grinning back at her and then over at Cisco, who came down to join them. "I got Julian to cover for me at the CCPD, so we are all good."

Julian Albert had recently become a part-time member of Team Flash. He knew Barry's secret identity, and occasionally worked with them to fight against Savitar. He was a nice addition to the Team, but there were somethings that the OG Team Flash just wanted to do the three of them.

"Alright, Jesse, Wally: Make sure the city's safe while I'm gone," Barry instructed the two younger speedsters.

"We will," Wally said, looking extra-super-duper-excited.

"Hey, Barry," Jesse called over. "If you see my dad, just tell him-"

"You'll see him really soon, Jesse," Barry promised, not letting her finish. "Speedsters honor."

Cisco stepped up to the platform right in front of where he was going to open the breach. Caitlin and Barry joined him as he slid on his glasses. "Alright," Barry said. "Let's do this."

"Okay..." Cisco breathed, adjusting his glasses and raising his arm. "Earth 2... here we come."

In a second, a swirling blue breach had opened in front of them, and they all hopped through.

"How was that?" Cisco asked when they came through, nodding his head.

"Pretty great," Caitlin complimented, grinning.

Barry strode foreword in front of the two of them as they looked around, hopping up on a huge fallen log to get a better look. "Well, we made it," he said.

Caitlin followed his gaze and caught sight of a fortress, a giant gorilla head carved into the front.

Cisco slowly shook his head, impressed. "Welcome to the Jungle, baby."

 **Flash!**

It was oppressively muggy in Earth 2's African jungle. Caitlin could feel her hair starting to frizz in it's ponytail from the humidity, and a light mist covered the unprotected part of her face with a sheen of water.

"Earth 2 Africa," Cisco spoke up as they walked among the trees. "Not hot, because Global Warming isn't really a thing here." He swatted at his face. "But bugs are!"

Barry shook his head, keeping his face to the front. Caitlin couldn't imagine that it was particularly comfortable walking in his tight leather suit.

"If Grodd is planning to attack, he's going to need to open a breach to our Earth," Barry recapped. "And the only one here that can open one is-"

"Harrison Wells," Caitlin finished. Barry had gone over the plan and his reasoning almost three times since they had left for Earth 2, and she got the point already.

"Wells, yeah," Barry said, not taking the hint that she got the plan. "So if we save him from Grodd, then he can't get to our Earth. The attack never happens, which will save the future, and put us one step closer to saving Iris."

Caitlin looked at the ground, noticing how he didn't mention anything about changing her fate of transforming into Killer Frost. She tried to tell herself that he just had too much faith in her to think that she could even go fully evil, but it still stung.

They walked a little bit farther, and Barry dropped back to let Cisco take the lead. "Water?" she offered, taking a drink herself.

"I'm good, thanks."

"Good to stay hydrated," Caitlin cautioned. She was silent for a moment and pushed back her huge hood, staring around her. "It's so weird being back here. This is where I met Killer Frost."

"Hey, I know I didn't say it before," Barry said, sending her a quick glance. "But this isn't just for Iris."

Caitlin titled her head, stopping walking and watching as he followed her lead.

"As much as I want to save her life, I want to save yours, too," Barry elaborated gently. "We're not going to let you become Killer Frost, okay? And I'm sure being back here brings back some bad memories... but I really think you'll be okay. That's why I haven't been bringing up the headline- I trust that you are stronger then the evilness inside of you."

Caitlin smiled, and wordlessly reached over to take his hand. He squeezed it lightly, smiling back.

They caught up with Cisco just as his tracker began to beep. "We're close, guys," he reported, brushing a frizzy strand of hair out of his face. He stopped in between a few large trees and another fallen stump and Caitlin pushed her hood back once again. She frowned and looked around.

"Did you hear that?"

Cisco stiffened and stared around at the trees. "This is it."

Barry walked foreword a couple of steps, peering down at what looked to be giant gorilla footprints in the soft dirt. There was a strange beeping sound coming from somewhere, a sound that seemed oddly familiar to Caitlin.

Cisco followed his friend to the footprints and bent down to pick something up. Harry's metahuman watch.

Barry scanned the trees. "It's a trap," he said. Before any of them could move, a small feather dart jabbed him in the bicep.

Caitlin clapped her hand to her thigh, staring down at another dart, before her vision tilted dizzyingly and she fell to the forest floor.

Everything went black.

 **Flash!**

Barry awoke with a start at the sound of a growl. He jolted upward, to his feet, staring around him at the set of metal-barred cages along the wall. On his left, Cisco was getting to his feet, rubbing his head. On his right, Caitlin was doing the same, brushing the dirt off of her coat.

"You guys alright?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Caitlin murmured.

Cisco nodded his agreement and placed his hands on the bars, shaking them a little. "Well, I guess you're gonna have to phase us out of here."

Barry nodded and mirrored Cisco's position, tightening his fingers around the rusted metal and getting ready to vibrate through them.

Nothing happened.

"I can't," he said after a moment, now a little bit concerned. "Something's holding me back. Can you open a breach?"

Cisco raised his fist and shut his eyes. After a moment of nothing, he wiggled his hand a little and then let it drop. "No dice."

Caitlin's shoulders slumped, disappointed, and Barry took another look around. "I don't think it's the cell," he said. "Grodd- he must be dampening our powers somehow."

Cisco let out a long breath. "Okay," he said, mouth twisting a little. "The-"

The sound of footsteps on the stairs made them all jump. Caitlin, closest to the stairwell, whipped around. A familiar face soon came into the light, and Caitlin broke into a smile. "Harry?" she asked, moving forward. "You're alright."

"Wells!" Barry exclaimed, as Harry stepped towards Caitlin's cage, face stoic. "Hey, you gotta help us get out of here before the gorillas come back."

Harry came around the side of the cage and stood in front of Barry. "Hello, Flash," he growled, and suddenly images of surgical equipment and blue-clad doctors filled Barry's brain.

"Grodd."

Caitlin's face went pale and she eyed Harry sadly. He glanced at her, but Barry forced his gaze back to him. "Grodd. Let him go. This is between you and me."

"Not yet," Harry/Grodd growled. "I need him."

"For what? Why'd you lure him here?"

"For you. Need your help."

"You've got a strange way of asking for it," Cisco huffed.

"You sent me here," Grodd said angrily. "Remember?! To live in this hell, where I am forced to serve under the rule of Solovar."

"Who's Solovar?" Barry demanded. He thought that maybe he should feel some shred of empathy for Grodd, but he had hurt his city, kidnapped Caitlin, and now had them locked up. He wasn't feeling much more then anger at this point.

"Leader of gorilla kind," Grodd answered. "Ruler of Gorilla City. And now he wants to rule the humans. He will bring war to your Earth!"

"Why?" Barry asked, forehead creased.

"He has seen many conflicts between gorillas and humans. He is afraid the humans will attack but now that you're here, he will bring the fight to you."

"So you lured us here to stop him?" Barry spat.

"As trespassers, you will be sent to the arena," Grodd said. "And executed."

"What?!" Cisco gaped. "How about a sign at the front: All trespassers will be executed?! That wouldn't be the worst idea, would it?"

"It will be Solovar's great honor to kill you himself," Grodd continued, ignoring Cisco. " _But_ , Flash. If he were to be defeated, the other gorillas would see his weakness, and would no longer follow him."

"Well, I'm not going to kill anyone," Barry said, eyebrows crunching in anger. "Not even a gorilla."

"KILL OR BE KILLED!" Grodd yelled, and Caitlin jumped a little at the sudden change in volume. "This is the only law gorilla-kind understands."

Barry squinted at him through the bars. There was a certain logic to Grodd's plan, especially coming from a gorilla. But still... "What do you benefit from this, Grodd?"

"If Solovar falls, I take his place," Grodd growled. " _I_ rule the gorillas. And I promise to keep them in Gorilla City."

Barry's jaw worked for a moment and he exchanged glances with Caitlin. She bit her lip and tilted her head. _I don't know, Barry..._

"How do we know we can trust you?" Barry asked.

"Because..." Grodd responded, starting to walk away from Barry's cage. "Even though you sent me away, your Earth is still my home. And there are those among you," his gaze slid to Caitlin, "I will never forget."

The smallest of smiles crossed Caitlin's face, eyes glistening a little. Grodd may have not been the golden retriever she had always wanted as a girl, but her unfailing love of animals stuck with her even with half-humanized-gorillas.

Suddenly, Grodd looked upward, and fell to his knees. Barry moved closer to the edge of his cage, staring at him in alarm.

Heavy, thumping footsteps made them all look up. Shadowed in the doorway stood Grodd, this time in gorilla form. "Kill Solovar," his voice said in their minds, "and Central City will be spared. Fail, and see your home turn to ash."

 **Flash!**

Things were pretty hopeless in the cages in Gorilla City.

Barry was standing with his fists wrapped around the bars of his cage, absentmindedly rubbing his forehead against the metal. Caitlin finally decided to break the silence and walked over to him. She laid her hands against the bars, tilting her head.

"Barry, do you really think you could kill this... Solovar?" Caitlin asked softly. He glanced over at her, then back down at his hands. "Do you think you could take a life?"

Barry opened his mouth a little and was about to respond when the sound of loud, thudding gorilla footsteps echoed down the corridor. The OG Team Flash ( **yes I had to include that- #BringBackOGTeamFlash!** ) glanced up to see a giant, light colored gorilla come heavily down the dungeon steps. He was closely followed by Grodd, who walked behind him in a respectful way.

"It is just as a feared," the light-colored gorilla said in their minds. Caitlin presumed him to be Solovar, though she couldn't be certain. "Humans sport war with gorilla kind. Why did you not tell me that more humans had entered the city?"

"I was about to inform you, Solovar-" Grodd started, but Solovar backhanded him roughly across the chest.

Caitlin flinched and looked away as Grodd crashed to the floor.

Barry eyes widened, suddenly seeming to realize how dangerous an angry gorilla was when there wasn't a pretty young scientist that could calm him down.

"Why?!" Solovar growled. "Why are you here? To study us like animals? Or make us your _pets_?"

"No," Barry said quickly. "No- I- no. We came here in peace. We entered your city by mistake... we mean you no harm. Please." Barry looked up at gorilla with his trademark earnestness, hoping that Solovar would see he was telling the truth. "Just let me and my friends go. I promise we'll never come back here again."

Solovar's eyes squinted, and suddenly Cisco began to speak.

"My brethren have seen you," he said, and Caitlin jumped, realizing that Solovar was now speaking through Cisco. "Your fate is sealed. You will all die by my hand... in the arena." Slowly, Cisco rotated to look out the small window in the dungeon. "So that all will know that Solovar's justice is wise and swift."

Barry nodded a little bit, eyes turning hard. He walked up to the cage, turning back to the gorilla. "Alright, I'll make you a deal," he said. "I'll fight you in the arena. Just me. But if I beat you, you let my friends go, and you leave us alone for good."

Caitlin didn't like this plan. She could still see the crumpled form that showed off the impacts that Solovar could create. She didn't want Barry going out in an arena with him, alone, no backup coming if he ended up having trouble.

But Cisco spoke for Solovar again, sealing his fate.

"I accept."

 **Flash!**

When the guard came to get Barry, Caitlin grasped his hand through the bars. "Barry..."

''I'll be okay," he assured her, kissing her fingertips. "See you soon?"

"Yeah..." Caitlin murmured, squeezing his hand one more time before letting it go.

Now Barry stood in the middle of a stadium filled with cheering, roaring, stomping gorillas. Solovar was in front of him, while back in the cells Cisco was monitoring Barry's vitals from his phone.

"Speedster vs. Super Gorilla," he murmured. "Best/Worst video game _ever_."

"Do you really think Barry can beat Solovar?" Caitlin asked, biting her lip nervously as they listened to the noises from the crowd outside.

"I hope so," Cisco said. "For all of our sakes. Oh, it's starting."

Back in the arena, Solovar gripping his spear. "After you die, your friends will follow you into the black."

"We'll see," Barry said calmly.

"Okay, Barry," Cisco called into the phone-comm. "I got a plan for you. It's all about the speed punches.

Barry nodded, then ran at Solovar.

Solovar deflected him with his shield, and Barry's shoulder hit hard against it, flying over Solovar's body. He crashed to the ground, and felt it begin to shake as Solovar ran towards him, punching him in the face.

Barry smashed back into the dirt, tasting blood.

"Forget the plan, Barry," Cisco yelled nervously. "It's all about the running away."

Solovar thundered toward Barry again, and slammed his spear down toward him. It hit the hard dirt and sent a crack running through it, right where Barry had been a second ago.

Now he was running, zipping in circles along the perimeter of the arena.

"What about a lightning throw?" Caitlin suggested to Cisco, gripping the bars of her cage and nervous watching the fight through the opening the gorilla's had provided.

"Yes, Barry-"

"Worth a shot," he panted back.

He continued to flash around the arena, but before he could throw his lightning, Solovar moved. He ran toward the center of the arena, jumped at least 11 feet in the air, and slammed his spear back toward the ground.

A giant wave of impact traveled out from the hit. The wave of dust slammed into Barry and he tripped, tumbling vertical along the wall before he stumbled and did a face-plant on the ground.

"Oh come on Barry, get up," Caitlin whispered, knuckles white.

Barry struggled to his forearms but cried out in pain, dropping back down to the ground. Caitlin shut her eyes and looked away.

Cisco frowned a little bit, looking like he might have an idea. "Barry... it's time to pull a Reverse Flash."

Caitlin looked at him, confused, just as Barry pushed himself from the ground. Solovar leapt into the air, flying towards him, and Cisco screamed, "DO IT!"

Barry vibrated his hand, and as the gorilla flew towards him, he slammed it into Solovar's stomach.

Solovar crashed back, landing heavily on the ground, spear clattering out of his hand.

Caitlin's eyebrows shot upward and she broke into a huge, relieved smile.

"He actually did it," Cisco breathed, arm dropping. "He did it."

All around Barry, gorillas were grumbling and shifting. "I won't kill him," Barry yelled between pants. "I WON'T! I know you all fear humans. You think they want war with gorilla-kind. We don't. We're not all murderers and killers. We only want peace. WHICH IS WHY I'M SPARING YOUR LEADER! We call it mercy."

Abruptly, a small, sharp pain in Barry's calf made him look down. A feathered dart, just like the one he and his team had been hit with before, was sticking out of his leather pant leg.

The world began to spin and Barry's dropped to his knees. He was awake just long enough to feel his head bounce of the hard packed dirt as he landed.

 **Flash!**

Barry woke up with a groan. He flopped onto his back, mind bleary from recent unconsciousness for the second time that day.

"Ugh... what happened?"

"Congratulations," Cisco said. He was sitting in the cage next to Cisco's, twisting his hat in his hands. "You won."

Barry shook his head and rolled onto his side. He noticed a dark figure slumped in Caitlin's cage and his lips pursed. "What about Harry?"

"He's still catatonic," Caitlin reported. She crouched down to be at Barry's height. "How do you fee-"

Suddenly, Harry straightened up. "Flash," he growled.

Barry glared up at him. "I won," he said. "Solovar promised to let us go."

"No."

Barry's brow furrowed and slowly stood up. "No? What do you mean, no? I don't understand."

"Solovar's words mean nothing now," Grodd/Harry said.

"You were never going to let us go, were you?" Cisco asked with an annoyed look.

"I told you... I needed you. I could not defeat Solovar in combat but you could. You did. And now _I_ am the ruler of Gorilla City and all the gorillas will follow me."

Understanding hit Barry like a slap in the face. "Solovar never wanted to attack Central City," he realized. "You do."

"You took my home away from me and now I will take it back!" Grodd yelled. He moved toward Barry's cell and Caitlin flinched out of the way. Barry stepped forward, unsure of how he would be able to protect her through a cage but wiling to try.

"The gorillas saw what you did, Flash," Grodd said, sounding a little calmer now. "They saw you defeat Solovar, and now they are afraid of humans and will do anything I order and I will order them to invade your Earth and your _city will burn_."

"You were planning this the whole time," Barry whispered, incredulous.

"Yes..." Grodd murmured. "Father taught me well. _Always. Think. Ahead_. I had plenty of time to think in cages built by you and then by Solovar."

Caitlin shook her head sadly. Where was the gentle, sweet Gorilla she had fed and loved not so many years ago?

"Then why don't you just kill us now, huh?" Cisco blurted. "Since we already did your dirty work for you?"

"I still need you," Grodd growled.

"I'm not doing anything for you," Barry said, glaring at him.

"No you, Flash" Grodd countered, staring past Barry, and pointing a finger at Cisco. " _You_."

"Me?"

" _You_ will open a breach to 1st Earth. My army will cross that breach, and all the humans in Central City will _burn_ before gorilla-kind!"

Barry shook his head, clenching his jaw angrily. "Grodd, you are smart," he admitted. "Maybe smarter then all of us. Smart enough to know that you _cannot do this_. Intelligence and violence: they're opposites from each other. What you want to do- it's not logical! Not for someone as wise as you are."

Just as Barry thought he _might_ have won Grodd over, he looked up. "You forget, Flash... I am a gorilla. KILL OR BE KILLED!"

"I'm gonna get out of this cell and I'm gonna stop you," Barry said angrily, striding up to the cell wall.

Harry's head suddenly tilted backward and he collapsed back to the ground.

The sound of thudding footsteps made the entire team jump, and Grodd came stomping into the room. "No... you won't..." the gorilla said in their minds. "You will _die_."

 **Flash!**

Harry had woken up, but Barry hadn't reacted much. He had been trying to vibe through the bars of his cage for the past ten minutes, but now he slumped back on the ground dejectedly.

"I still can't phase through the bars," he reported needlessly. "We have to find a way out of here so we can stop him."

"You keep saying that, but what if we can't get out?" Cisco said, his face pinching. "What if we're stuck here? What if-"

"We can't think like that!" Barry cut him off sharply. "Where there's life, there's hope."

Cisco let out a sigh, leaning against the wall. "And if there isn't life?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Grodd needs me to open a breach so he can attack Earth 1," Cisco elaborated flatly. "What if I wasn't alive to do that?"

Caitlin's eyebrows shot up. "You planning on dying?"

"Only if you kill me."

She squinted, trying to figure out if he was serious. Barry huffed out a disbelieving laugh, shaking his head.

"Look," Cisco said, backing up his point. "This is something we have to consider. Right now, I can't think of _any_ other way to stop them. They'd have no other way of getting to Central City."

"He's right," Harry mumbled absently. "Cisco's death would stop their plans."

"It would change the headline in the future," Cisco added.

Harry frowned. "Headline?"

"It's a long story," Caitlin said, not wanting to get into the whole future mess they were in at the moment.

"But it could also make another one come true," Barry said softly, looking at Caitlin. "The one about... Killer Frost."

Caitlin's eyebrows shot up once again, and she got her adorable deer-in-headlights look, sending it at Cisco. "You want... _me_ to kill you?"

"Think about it," Cisco murmured dismally. "Grodd doesn't know you have cold powers. You might be able to use them."

"Cold powers?" Harry wrinkled his nose, pointing at Caitlin. "She- you have cold powers?" Caitlin sighed a little and nodded and Harry curled his hand into a fist. "I knew it, I _knew_ that you and I didn't get Barry out of that mirror, Ramon."

"Wait, Caitlin," Barry interrupted, and she turned her gaze on him. "If you kill someone... I don't think there's any coming back from that. You'll be Killer Frost for the rest of your life."

Caitlin bit her lip, looking down, then back up at her friend. "Okay Cisco, I'm not gonna kill you, and neither is anyone else, okay? So let's come up with the next best plan that doesn't involve murdering one of our friends."

Cisco shrugged, and Barry got a strange look on his face. "Hang on a second... no. Cisco's right."

"What?" Caitlin squawked. "Didn't you _just_ say that I shouldn't kill him?"

"It's the only way," he said thoughtfully. "One of us has to die."

As Caitlin continued to splutter fruitlessly for something to say, Barry got to his feet and turned to her. "Do you think that you could control your powers enough to kiss me?"

The spluttering got worse. "W-w- _what?!_ " Caitlin managed. "Yes, I can kiss you but what on Earth does that have to do with... dying..." Realization set in. "No. No, Barry, I'm not giving you the kiss of death, no _way_."

"I don't want you to kill me," Barry said. "I just want you to freeze me enough that it seems I'm dead. Hopefully, when Grodd comes down to check on us then he will think that I'm dead, and remove me from the cage. Then I can... I don't know, vibrate or something to get my temperature back up, and free you guys."

"This is-" Caitlin ran her hand across her hair. "This is completely crazy, Barry! You said it yourself- if I kill someone I'm going to be Killer Frost forever. I don't want to- I can't kill you!"

Barry strode over and grasped the metal bars that their cages shared. "Caitlin... I trust you. You have put your life into my hands countless times, and I've done the same. Now is no different, okay? You have control and you can do this. We're all out of ideas, and if we don't get home soon the gorillas are going to force Cisco to breach them to Earth 1. Who knows what they'll do to try and force his hand?"

Caitlin rested her forehead against her cage, letting out a long, slow breath and trying not to freak out. "Okay," she said after a very long moment. Even though this was the last thing she wanted to do, the Team was counting on her and she didn't feel she had much of a choice. "Okay, Barry, I will kiss you."

Barry chuckled softly at her choice of words, and Caitlin gave him a weak smile. She reached behind her, hesitated, and pulled off her necklace.

Almost immediately part of her hair turned white. Caitlin gulped and awkwardly twisted her face to closer to Barry's through the bars.

As soon as she kissed him, Barry felt his lips begin to go numb. It took almost everything he had not to pull away, and he squeezed the bars of the cage so hard that his knuckles went white. It _hurt_.

After only a short time, Barry's vision began to fade. His head started to swim, like it had when he had been hit by Grodd's darts. In a couple of moments Caitlin had to physically hold him up to make sure he would break contact with her.

"Snow..." Harry said softly. "I think you can stop now."

Caitlin pulled back with a soft gasp, all but throwing her power dampening necklace back on. "Barry?" she whispered, staring in horror at her fiancé, who was blue in the face with a thin layer of frost covering his lips.

 _Why had she agreed to do this_?!

"Oh my God," Caitlin breathed, sinking to her knees. "Oh my God I killed him."

"Snow," Harry said with unusual gentleness. "He's not dead. You did what you had to-"

He broke off at the sound of heavy gorilla footsteps and glanced towards the door. "Everyone, get ready."

Caitlin rolled into a crouch, gripping the bars of the cage closest to Barry. It wasn't hard to get some realistic tears to start up in her eyes, nor was it hard to send Grodd a broken-hearted look. "He started coughing," she told him, her voice wavering. " _Violently_. And then he clutched his side and keeled over. The injury... it must have ruptured one of his kidneys."

Harry dropped his head in an expression of grief. Cisco looked at the floor.

"He went into shock," Caitlin breathed, her own head dropping as a tear trickled down her cheek. She had to admit, this whole acting thing was just the tiniest bit enjoyable. "His heart stopped. I- I couldn't resuscitate him."

Harry placed a hand on Caitlin's shoulder and she wiped her eyes. All of them help their breaths as Grodd opened up the door to Barry's cage and felt at his pulse. " _Cold_ ," he growled inside of their heads.

Caitlin bit her lip and stared up at him. "He's dead-"

Grodd eyed her for a moment, then looked back down at Barry and picked him up by the leg. "He was no use to me anyway," he said, dragging the frozen speedster out of his cage and throwing him in the pile of bones in the corner. Then he stomped out of the room.

Caitlin got to her feet and walked over to the bars. Moment of truth... was Barry Allen actually dead?

"He's gone, Barry," Harry said in a hoarse whisper. "Grodd is gone."

Caitlin held her breath, waiting. "Come on..." she whispered.

Barry's entire body began to vibrate. After a long, tense second, he sucked in a huge gasp of air and rolled painfully to his side, coughing.

A huge smile bloomed across Caitlin's face as her relief made her feel heady. "Yo, it worked!" Cisco yelled.

" _Shh_ ," Harry shot back.

"It worked," Cisco repeated, at a much quieter volume.

"I didn't freeze you too much, did I?" Caitlin asked nervously as Barry stumbled to his feet, still shivering and panting a little.

"No-" Barry said, stumbling over to the control gear for her cage and all but falling against it. "I'm good."

"Well then," Harry said, exchanging grins with Caitlin. "Let's get out of here."

Grunting with the effort, Barry shoved all of his weight against the bar that opened their cage. Slowly, they rattled open. "GO!" Barry wheezed, face red with the effort.

Cisco, Caitlin and Harry all rushed out of their cells, and Barry let the bar drop. "Let's go," he said, following them out of the dungeon at a run. Once they had made it out of the dungeon, Barry grabbed them and flashed the whole group to the forest. "Alright," he instructed Cisco. "We should be far enough out that you should be able to use your powers."

"We need to breach over, right now," Harry said, rubbing his hands together anxiously.

"We need to go before they realize we're gone!" Barry cried.

The sudden sound of growling and pounding feet made Caitlin look up. "It's too late for that," she breathed. "Run!"

"Run!" Barry echoed, and they started stumbling deeper into the forest.

"Open a breach!" Caitlin cried, and Cisco came to stop, sticking out his hand

"Time to warp out of this mad-house," he said, and breach flowing out of his fist and forming in the air in front of him.

"Alright, go," Barry urged, taking Caitlin's arm and sending her through first. Harry followed, then Barry, and Cisco brought up the rear.

The breach shut behind him just as Grodd came flying through the air with a terrific growl, landing right where they had just vanished.

 **Flash!**

The rest of Team Flash was there to meet them when they came through the breach. "Dad!" Jesse cried, running forward and throwing herself at her father, who grabbed her in a huge hug.

Barry walked forward too, and met Iris and Joe. "You okay?" Iris asked, a big smile on her face as she hugged her brother.

"Yeah," Barry said, hugging her and then Joe. "I'm sorry you guys missed it."

"I ain't," Joe disagreed, laughing.

"Word of advice," Cisco panted, wrapping an arm around Iris' shoulders and kissing her temple. "Don't volunteer for these things. Nothing ever tries to rip you limb from limb if you don't volunteer."

Barry walked back over to Caitlin, kissing her lightly on the lips. "You were amazing," he breathed, brushing her hair out of her face and kissing her once more. "You were positively amazing."

She blushed. "Thanks. So we're you."

"Yes, yes, all of you were. I'm fine, Jesse, really-" Harry said, pushing his daughter's hand away and hugging her into his side.

HR came into the room, his usually grin getting even wider when he laid eyes on his Earth 2 counterpart. "I forgot just how handsome you are," he said, beaming.

Harry's mouth pinched and he glanced at Cisco. "Uh, right. I... forgot you were still here."

HR lifted his hat in greeting. "Still here!" he confirmed.

"I suppose we have you're technical expertise to thank for getting us out of that fix," Harry said reluctantly. Everyone else winced. HR was far from a technical expert... or an expert of any kind.

"Aw, nah," HR said, shaking his head vehemently.

"Nah?" Harry asked, confused.

"Nah," Cisco repeated, shaking his head. "You were completely right about him; he's a total fraud and not even a scientist and I'm sure he couldn't even remember an ATM code if he tried."

HR nodded vigorously, taking it all in stride. "All those numbers."

"Then- then- why is he still here?!" Harry demanded.

"Because... we couldn't do it without him," Cisco admitted with a sigh.

HR gave a gallant bow. "I thank you, Francisco," he said grandly.

Laughing at the sight of Harry's confusion, Wally turned his gaze to Barry and Caitlin. "So... what happened? Did you guys fight some super-human gorillas?"

They grinned at each other, and Cisco shook his head slowly. "Yeah... something like that."

 **Author's Note: HOLLLLLLY SMOOOOOOAKS that was VERY long. These are so incredibly long. WHEW I hope it's worth it, though :)**


	4. 3x14

**Author's Note: OMGGG IT'S VALENTINES DAY! Who else completely forgot that that was what happened in this episode?!**

 **One of these days... I'm actually going to have a really romantic valentine's day (I hope...? maybe...? Someday...?). And then imma write a fanfic about it :D**

Caitlin had spent the night, which was a habit that was getting alarmingly frequent. It was hard to resist the temptation of waking up in the morning curled up against Barry's side, his arm around her back and sleep still masking his face. He was just too darn _cute_ when he was drowsy.

Today, however, Caitlin woke up to an empty bed and the sound of speedster lightning downstairs. The sound was a bit worrying, but since there were no crashes or cries of pain she hoped that meant that there wasn't a full-fledged speedster battle going on in Barry's living room.

She threw on a long sweater that was draped over the chair and walked downstairs, yawning and rubbing her eyes. Normally, Caitlin was the kind of person that could easily get out at 5 am, but she and Barry had stayed up rather late last night talking, and she was looking forward to sleeping in a little.

"Barry?" she murmured blearily, stepping off the last step and shivering a little as her bare foot hit the tile.

"Good morning!" he called back with a grin, sliding the last plates of breakfast down onto the table.

The entire room was covering with pink and white and red decorations, complete with some heart shaped balloons tied to the couch. Caitlin blinked a few times. Was there a holiday that she had forgotten about? Their anniversary?

"Good morning... you're in a good mood for 6:30 in the morning."

"Yes I am!" Barry said brightly. Then he eyed her in concern. "Was I too loud? I did make breakfast. We got pancakes and waffles and french toast, and I picked up some of those caramel lattes that you love so much from Jitters."

"Barry Allen, what has gotten into you?" Caitlin said, her entire chest feeling warm with pleasure as she stared around his pretty, decorated apartment.

"I realized that I never really do things like this," Barry said, an adorably happy smile on his face. "Also... Happy Valentine's Day."

"C'mere," Caitlin said, and he walked over to her. She kissed him gently, arms around his waist, before pulling back and staring lovingly at him. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Barry said, kissing her again. Then he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "So... do you actually want some of this?"

"Heck yeah," Caitlin responded as her stomach growled. "I can never pass up french toast."

 **Flash!**

When the two of them arrived at STAR Labs, both stuffed and about an hour later, they found it looking rather similar to Barry's living room.

"Wowww..." Barry murmured, staring around at the heavily decorated Speed Lab. "What a transformation. Again!"

"So, this is HR's contribution to the team?" Jesse asked, eyebrows raised as she walked in beside Wally. "Being Martha Stewart?"

Feeling the need to defend her friend's actions, Caitlin shrugged. "Guys, he's just trying to do something nice."

HR himself came skipping into the Speed Lab, firing a cupid bow towards Wally, who caught it. "I'm not really too good at this kind of thing," he admitted with a grin, dancing around in a circle. "Maybe I need to take some lessons from that guy in the green elf suit!"

Barry snorted with laughter. "Green Arrow," he corrected. "What is all this?"

"Friends day!" HR said grandly. "Badah!"

Barry raised his eyebrow. "What? Friends day?"

"Oh, right, right," HR clarified. "It's my Earth's equivalent of Valentines Day. I just- just thought that after our success with the gorillas we should celebrate the loooooove."

Wally covered his mouth with his hand, snickering. Joe raised an eyebrow. "Was all this... necessary?"

"Yeah, Joe!" HR exclaimed. "Speaking of- where is your lady friend? 'Cause I would like to-"

"No, you wouldn't like to do anything," Joe said firmly, giving him a look. "She's at work, which is where I should be going."

He turned and fled the room, but HR continued undaunted. "Look what I have, ladies and gentlemen! Your own personal _friends-day cards_."

He bowed low in front of Caitlin. "Ms. Snow..."

"Thank you, HR," Caitlin said with a wide smile, opening her card. This was impossibly cute. ' _Some may say you have a heart of ice, but Caitlin, I think you're rather nice'._

"Captain!" HR said to Barry, saluting. "Leader of the ship."

Barry took the card with a disbelieving shake of his head. HR was certainly a unique spirit.

HR gave everyone else their cards and then bolted out of the room. "I forgot the coffee!"

Jesse opened up her card and read the message with a shake of her head. "'You have sped into my heart, Jesse Quick'."

"Well," Wally said, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I guess that makes two of us."

"Oh my gosh they are so _cute_!" Caitlin squeaked, eyeing the teenagers from across the room where she and Barry were looking at their cards. "I totally called them. Didn't I call them?"

"Yes, you did," Barry said with a smirk, shaking his head at her excitement. "And you know, HR is right about one thing."

"What's that?"

"That was a pretty big win for the team," Barry said with a shrug. "Defeating those gorillas... we're changing the future, one headline at a time."

Caitlin smiled, wrapping her hands around his neck. "I don't know what the future's going to bring," she said softly. "So I wanted to ask you. Barry Allen?"

"Yes?" he answered with a quizzical look.

"Will you be my friend?"

"Always," Barry said with a chuckled, hugging her tightly.

 **Flash!**

Gypsy (a breacher that had recently tried to kidnap HR to bring him back to his Earth and execute him) had arrived on Earth 1. She brought with her no knowledge of how she arrived, but it didn't take long to put the pieces into place.

Grodd had used her to open a breach instead of Cisco, and now he and the Gorillas were in Central City.

They hadn't changed the headlines after all.

"You guys find Grodd yet?" Joe asked as he burst through the doors to the bunker.

"We're about to," Barry reported, striding over to Cisco, Harry and Caitlin, who were preparing Cisco to location-vibe. "Cisco, you ready?"

"Harry... if this thing- if it fries my brain..." Cisco said nervously, strapped to a chair in the middle of the room.

"It's an improvement," Harry shot back.

"What's that, Rocky?"

"Yeah." Harry smirked at him.

Cisco laughed nervously. "Ha. Yeah, I'm ready."

"Word of warning," Harry said. "Vibing. It's like... surfing a monster wave. You need to stay _above_ the temporal flow, otherwise your consciousness can get sucked under."

He demonstrated dramatically with his hands, and Caitlin eyed him nervously. "And then what happened?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know," he said happily. "Guess we'll find out."

"Wait... what?" Cisco asked, straining at his wrist-bonds, but Harry had already pressed the activation button. Cisco went rigid.

"Where are you, Ramon?" Harry asked, squinting at him. "What do you see?"

"I'm at an intersection," Cisco reported. "State and Oak Hill. I think this is where it goes down."

"That's a block away from the bridge," Joe reported. "That leads right into the heart of town. But if those gorillas get over that bridge..."

"They'll overrun in the city in no time," Harry finished.

"Not if we stop them first," Barry said firmly.

 **Flash!**

Their first attempt to stop Grodd hadn't gone well. Grodd had taken over Joe's brain, forcing him to hold his own gun up to his head and fire. Joe had been seconds away from getting his brains spilled out into the pavement, but Barry had managed to move him in time.

"You okay?" he asked breathlessly, hand on Joe's shoulder.

"Think so," the cop muttered, touching his forehead.

"I don't- I don't get it," Wally muttered. He was in his full Kid Flash uniform, and was standing next to a suited-up Jesse. "How is attacking Detective Joe West apart of Grodd's plan?"

"It wasn't," Barry said softly, realization hitting him. "It was a distraction."

They arrived back at STAR Labs disappointed at their failure, but Cisco and Harry wasted no time in getting back to work. They strapped Joe up to a headset and began fiddling around him.

"So, all you need to do is concentrate on your memories of Grodd, okay?" Harry instructed.

"Yeah," Joe said, sighing a bit. "That won't be a problem."

"Alright-" Harry started, before another voice interrupted.

"Hey, Dead Man," Jesse said, striding into the Bunker with an angry look in her eyes.

Caitlin and Barry exchanged glances and winced. They weren't quite sure what the title "Dead Man" was supposed to imply, but paired with the expression on Jesse's face, it wasn't anything good.

"Seriously?" Jesse continued, stopping on the upper platform and giving her dad a look. "You told Wally you were dying?"

Caitlin's eyes widened. "Dying?" she murmured, concerned.

Harry winced awkwardly. "I didn't say I was- I said I didn't- I didn't know how much time I had left," he clarified. "None of us-"

"What is wrong with you?" Jesse demanded.

Another awkward glance was exchanged between the engaged couple. Caitlin resisted the urge to back away slowly and leave the family drama to a quiet, unwatched room.

"Is there seriously nothing you won't say to get me to stay by your side?" Jesse continued. At this point, she didn't even seem angry. Just disappointed. Harry started to speak, but she cut him off. "Look, whatever. I'm moving here. Whether you like it or not."

With that, she spun on her heel and left the room.

Harry let out a deep sigh and turned back to Joe. "Anyway, all you have to do is concentrate on your memories of Grodd," he repeated flatly. "Ready?"

"Waiting on you, Dead Man," Cisco said with a faint smirk.

Harry mumbled something unintelligible in weak retaliation.

"Hey-" Joe said, catching Caitlin's attention. "If I start to Grodd out at any point, turn the power off. Immediately."

"Of course," she said quickly, giving him a reassuring smile.

Harry started up the machine, and, almost immediately, Joe's expression went blank.

"Joe?" Barry asked, waving a hand in front of his dad's face.

Joe didn't answer, or even flinch. He reached down and picked up the pencil and clipboard-with-paper that had been lying on his lap and began to draw.

Caitlin tilted her head as a very clear face came into view. "I didn't know he could draw," she said idly.

"Well, that's the thing, anybody can actually draw," Cisco answered. "It's just that some have more developed visual cortex to manual ability. And right now these magnets are taking that part of his brain and lighting it _up_."

Joe put a few finishing touches on his drawing before his arm went limp and the lights on the magnet died. Barry reached for the clipboard and squinted at it. "Well, it worked," he said. "But now we have a new problem. We have to figure out who this guys is."

 **Flash!**

"So we ran our John Doe image through every database," Caitlin started.

"And it was tough," Cisco cut in. "This guy's a ghost. We've been calling him Jason Borne." He smirked at the reference, and Caitlin shook her head fondly.

"But then HR noticed something," Wally continued.

Everyone turned to look at what Barry had started calling the Fake-Wells in his head. "Well, at first it was a real brain-twister," he said. "Then I remembered a quote from a renowned poet from my Earth, Alfred Yankovic."

"Are you talking about Weird Al?" Iris asked, nose scrunching.

"Why, because of that hair?

Harry rolled his eyes. "Get to the point already. If you have one."

"I am, hard head. It's his _hair_. Standard. Military. Cut."

Caitlin picked up the thread before Harry could start acting on the murderously-annoyed look on his face. "So, we ran the image through the department of defense database, and, as Cisco would say: Yahtzee!"

Cisco nodded, looking proud. "You're right. I would say that."

They fist-bumped, and Barry grinned. "You're just too cute, you know that?" he murmured to Caitlin and she flushed, smiling.

The picture matching up to a photo and Barry nodded over at the newest member of their team. "Nice work, HR," he murmured.

"I know," HR said happily, spinning his drumstick.

"DOD has him listed as Air-force General Mathew McNally," Iris read.

"General Mathew McNally," Cisco spoke up. "And I'll give you one guess -just _guess_ what he's in charge of."

The smile that had been on Barry's face just a second ago faded away. "I know you're going to say military weapons but I _really hope_ you're not going to say military weapons..."

"Air Force, Baer," Joe said flatly. " _Nuclear Missiles_."

"McNally has the highest clearance; he can have a rocket in the air in less then 10 minutes," Caitlin reported.

"So are the satellites back to functional?" Barry asked Cisco.

"We ran a full diagnostic," Harry assured him. "Any nuclear weapon that's authorized to fire... an alarm will sound."

An alarm sounded.

" _Ugh_ ," Barry groaned, reaching up to rub his face.

"Does it sound like that?" HR asked blankly. "That's an alarm."

"Yeah, it's that alarm HR," Harry growled, coming around the side of the desk to stand next to Cisco and Caitlin. "Oookay. Short range, ballistic missile, authorized to fire from Fort Reynolds."

Joe's eyes went wide. "How much time do we have?"

Cisco shook his head. "Minutes."

"Grodd..." Caitlin breathed, shaking her head sadly. "What have you done?"

Iris strode over to the computer monitors, eyebrows scrunched with worry. "Can you stop it from here?"

"Military weapons are still analogue- I mean, they still use floppy disks," Cisco reported.

Barry shook his head. Too much discussion, too little time. "I'm going after it," he said decisively. Wally and Jesse exchanged looks and started after him, but Barry stopped and turned to them. "Guys, no. I appreciate, but I need you to stay here, okay? If I can't stop it... I need you to get everyone to safety, okay?"

He leaned down and kissed Caitlin's cheek, and then ran out of the room.

It only took Barry a few seconds to get to the missile launch. He skidded over the frosted grass, nervously eyeing the launchers, which were turning towards the sky. General Mathew McNally was lying unconscious on the ground, eyes shut.

"Alright, I'm with the missile," Barry said, forcing himself to stay focused.

"Barry, to access the keypad, remove the panel at the base of the missile vehicle," Harry instructed. He was standing in front of the missile launcher schematics, his hands behind his head.

Barry found the panel and yanked it open, then vibrated the lock off to reveal a keypad. "Alright, that's done. What's next?"

"Well, the good news is, this missile has a built in, five-digit kill code," Caitlin told him.

"Great!" Barry gasped. "What is it."

"That's the bad news. We don't know."

"For real?" Barry resisted the urge to bang his forehead against the missile. "Well then, what am I supposed to do?"

"You have to try every combination, Barry," Harry said. "It's okay; with this type of launcher you won't set off the nuke."

"The simulators are predicting that hundreds of thousands will die," Iris told him.

Barry shut his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. This was probably the most tedious and also most important thing he had ever had to do. Thousands of lives were counting on him.

He started to type.

"Five digits... how many combos is that?" Wally asked Caitlin, leaning anxiously over the desk.

Caitlin winced, unsure. HR frowned. "I'm guessing it's about..."

"Precisely 90,000," Harry growled. "Which you would know if you weren't a moron and you were an actual genius."

Caitlin scanned her readings, biting her lip. "Two missiles are locked on target." _Hurry, Barry..._

"Guys, we need something else; this isn't working!" Barry cried desperately.

Cisco spun back to the group in the Cortex. "Plan B? Anyone?"

Silence greeted him. Barry kept typing.

"WORK!" Barry growled, panic filling him up like fizz from a shaken soda can.

"How much time does he have?" Cisco asked.

"Fifteen seconds," Caitlin breathed. There was a possibility that she and the rest of the group at STAR Labs would be able to make it out with the help of Wally and Jesse. But everyone else in Central City... Caitlin shuddered, and bit her lip harder.

"Guys, I need something! This isn't working!" Barry cried. He sounded near tears, fingers still flashing a hundred-combos-a-second. "Something else."

"You just gotta keep going, Barry," Harry said, rubbing his face. "You just gotta keep trying."

"Six missiles are locked on target," Iris said softly. Cisco walked over and took her hand. Caitlin tasted blood.

Barry kept going. One digit locked into place. Then another. Then a third, then a forth, then-

The numerals flashed green.

"It worked," Barry breathed, staring at the activated kill-code is disbelief. "It worked! We did it!"

Caitlin sat back. He had had 2.13 seconds to spare.

"WE DID IT!" Barry said again, whooping and letting out an excited laugh. "We did it! Oh thank God."

Wally's head dropped and Jesse rested a hand on his back. HR fist-bumped. Cisco pulled Iris into a kiss that Joe probably didn't need to see. Caitlin grinned, and leapt into Barry's arms as he flashed into the Cortex.

 _They did it_.

 **Flash!**

Unfortunately, the fight wasn't over.

"I found them," Cisco reported as his Gorilla-Tracker started to beep. "They're right outside the city."

"They're headed to State and Oak Hill. Fast," Caitlin said.

"Alright, so what do we do?"

"Barry." Wally had come foreword, Jesse close by his side. "I know we are Speedsters, but we are _way_ outnumbered here."

"Yeah, I mean, he's right. How are the three of us going to take on all those gorillas?" Jesse echoed.

Barry shook his head slowly. They didn't have another choice. "We have to."

"As much as I hate these gorillas- especially Grodd- if you kill him the others might stand down, but you might not be able to come back from this Barry. You know that, right?" Joe said softly.

"I know," Barry breathed. "But there's another way. It's not gonna come to that. Cisco, I'm gonna need your help."

Cisco nodded, face pale, and the four heroes headed for the door.

Wally, Jesse and Barry flashed themselves to State and Oak Hill. It was dead empty, no people in the streets. "Wells," Barry asked. "How long do we have?"

"Two minutes, Barry," HR reported.

"Two minutes?!" Harry asked in disbelief, glaring at him. "Ten seconds! Can you not even tell time?!"

"Sooo..." Wally said casually. "Got any pointers on how the three of us are going to save everyone and stop a few hundred gorillas?"

Barry sighed. "Go for the legs?" he suggested. "Just try not to get caught. Trust me... they won't let go."

With that less-then-reassuring thought in mind, the three speedsters prepared themselves as a huge army of armored gorillas came storming down the empty street.

Wally and Jesse exchanged glances and nodded, running off at the same moment and flashing around and in between the gorilla army. Grodd broke into a run, heading straight for Barry.

It seemed it was time for a rematch.

He ran up to meet Grodd, only to be roughly knocked aside by his shield. Barry crashed into a car and rolled to his front, groaning.

"Well that was _not_ the start we're looking for," HR commented dryly. Both Iris and Caitlin glared angrily at him, and he started to explain before finding Harry to be shaking his head at him and shutting up.

"How long to they have to last?" Iris asked, leaning over the monitors, her fists tight around the side of the desk.

"Hopefully not much longer," Caitlin murmured nervously.

It wasn't long before the gorillas managed to land a hit on first Wally and then Jesse. They flew out of the crowd, landing with sickening thuds and rolling to a stop on opposite sides of the street.

"You're city will fall, Flash," Grodd growled as Barry struggled to stand. "There's only one way to end this. _You kill me_... But you won't do that. All you care about is mercy."

"Yeah, you're right!" Barry said, finally forcing himself up. "Except I'm not the only one who wants to stop you."

Grodd leaned foreword, preparing to attack, when a blaze of bluish vibe-light caught his attention. Cisco and Gypsy, hopped out of the breach together, following by a tan, gigantic gorilla.

 _Solovar_.

He roared so loudly Barry's ears rang, and Grodd's head swiveled to face him. "Solovar," he grumbled as the gorillas behind him shifted and grunted.

"I challenge you, Grodd!" Solovar cried.

" _And you will fall again_!" Grodd roared, and the two gorillas dove at each other.

The fight was messy and intense, but it didn't take too long for Solovar to come out triumphant. As he stepped over Grodd's unconscious body, beating his chest and roaring, all the other gorillas dropped to their knees in worship.

Then Solovar turned, and picked up his spear. "Goodbye, Grodd.."

"Stop!" Barry cried, startling forward. Solovar turned to him, dropping his spear. "Death isn't the way," Barry continued.

"He betrayed me!"

"I know, so leave him here, where he's from!" Barry said. "We won't let him go back to Gorilla City ever again. Just spare his life like I spared yours."

Solovar's head swung back and forth between Grodd and Barry, but at the speedster's words, he stopped and nodded. Barry nodded back, and Solovar stepped away from Grodd's body.

"Send us home," he commanded. "All of us."

 **Flash!**

All of the gorillas had been returned to Earth 2, and Grodd was safe (and everyone safe from him) at Argus. Caitlin was relieved. Some small part of her still remembered the soft, gentle, giant gorilla she had known so many years ago, and Barry could tell.

"Whatever goodness Grodd had is long gone," she said softly, trying to convince him... and herself. "For all I care Lyla can throw him in the same cage as King Shark."

Barry nodded a little, not seeming convinced. Detachment wasn't a usual emotion in Caitlin Snow, and now was no exception.

Gypsy had gone home and everyone at STAR Labs had dispersed. Barry and Caitlin were heading back to his apartment, ready to finish up the tiny remainder of Valentines Day snuggling on Barry's couch and watching Letters To Juliet.

"You alright?" Barry asked as the movie grew into the now-familiar scene of Charlie and Sophie lying out on the grass and watching the stars.

Caitlin snuggled closer to his chest, feeling sleepy from his warmth and the empty glass of wine on the table in front of her. "I'm okay," she murmured. "I'm glad all of this is over, though."

"Grodd will be okay, you know," Barry said softly. "I bet we can even arrange something with Argus if you want to go visit him in captivity."

Caitlin shook her head. "I don't... I don't think I could do that, Barry. Not only would it probably break protocol, but Grodd doesn't deserve kindness. I mean, he tried to kill you, and me, and destroy Central City. Heck, he fired a _nuclear weapon_ , and almost succeeded it getting it to hit the city and kill everyone! How are you supposed to feel empathy for someone that does something that awful-"

She broke off abruptly, her lower lip wobbling. Barry wrapped her tighter in his arms and kissed the top of her head. "Feeling empathy is one of the most amazing and beautiful things about you, Caitlin Snow," he whispered in her ear. "It's one of the reasons I fell in love with you, and it's what keeps you such a strong and amazing person even though everything we've faced. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Caitlin nodded wearily, shutting her eyes. "Maybe... Maybe I'll go and visit him sometime," she mumbled into Barry's shirt. "Right now I think we should go to bed."

Barry smiled softly and kissed her hair again, swinging her up into his arms. "That sounds just fine to me."

 **Author's Note: SOOOOO that one was shorter and more boring but it was a part 2 so I kinda felt like I had to do it.**

 **GUYS you are going to make me rewatch 3x18 again so that I can do a rewrite... OMG my heart might not be able to handle it... I promised myself I would never watch those scenes again *starts sobbing into her keyboard***

 **THE THINGS I DO FOR YOU PEOPLE!**


	5. 3x18

**Author's Note: Part of my is crazy excited to rewrite this episode.**

 **The other part... not so much. I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO RELIVE IT! Seriously- this episode didn't just break my heart... it** ** _broke my soulllll_** **... *crying emoji times 100,003***

A robbery alert brought Barry away from a very confusing crime scene. Cisco directed him to a bank, where he found a white haired, odd-looking man holding a metal cylinder in his hand.

"I don't think that's yours, pal!" Barry called over.

The man turned, staring at him intensely. "Flash..." he murmured.

"You didn't think I'd want to come meet that newest resident of Iron Heights?" Barry snarked. He was in a good mood today. It was a Friday, the sun was shining, and Caitlin had met him at his apartment that morning with a long kiss and a cup of his favorite Jitters coffee.

"No, I assumed that you'd show," the man responded. "I just didn't expect that you'd be so _young_. Barry. Allen."

The smile faded off of Barry's face and he took a slow, careful step foreword. "How do you know who I am?"

"I'm from the future," the man said, taking a handkerchief out of his sleeve and flapping it like a magician. "You don't believe me? Let's see... uh, 2017, hmm... how're things going with your doomed sister, Iris West? Or your pre-destined lover, _Killer Frost_. Or... Savitar?"

Barry's stomach clenched at the name, and the man held the handkerchief over the metal dome in his hand. When he removed it, it had mysteriously vanished.

"You know Savitar?" Barry asked in a calm, collected voice.

The man smirked. "I know _everything_ about him," he said. "And you."

Suddenly, Barry flashed forward and grabbed the man's arm. It came off in his hand, and he was left staring at a very realistic piece of plastic, like a clothing store mannequin's limb.

"What the heck-"

In the next second, the man had tossed down something that exploded into light in front of Barry's eyes. Flinching from the impact, Barry dropped the arm.

The man ran towards the door, but a sudden breach opened in the side of the room and there stood Gypsy. She shot out her hand and a red vibe-blast hit the white-haired man in the back, sending him buckling forward.

"Gypsy," the man said, getting to his feet and panting with the effort, a deck of playing cards now in his hand. "Still playing at revenge, I see."

"Oh, I'm gonna get it, this time," Gypsy said, glaring at the man and stalking forward.

He grinned. "We'll see."

The next thing Barry knew, what looked like hundreds of playing cards were flying through the air. Barry moved into super speed and began to run towards the man, knocking cards out of the way.

But by the time he burst through the brunt of them, the man had vanished.

 **Flash!**

"He calls himself Abra Kadabra," Gypsy explained.

A picture of the man from the bank was up on the one of the monitors, and Barry and Gypsy were back at STAR Labs to discuss what had happened at the bank.

"As in... Hocus Pocus?" Caitlin asked with a frown.

"Well, he certainly had a lot of tricks," Barry said, grimacing.

"Yeah, we think he has some sort of nano-technology built into his body," Gypsy agreed. "It allows him to do some extraordinary feats. Teleportation, telekinesis, you name it. And believe me; I have seen it all."

"So, that card trick he played on Barry, the water tank at Stagg... that's all some futuristic tech that he's masking as magic?" Iris asked.

Caitlin shrugged. "Well, it's Arther C. Clark's third law. Any sufficiently advanced technology is-"

"Indistinguishable from magic," Cisco agreed, joining her for the last few words.

"Before you showed up he said he was from the future," Barry commented, and Joe did a double take, turning to him.

"The future?"

"He is," Gypsy confirmed. "64th century."

"...Great," Iris sighed. "Another criminal from the future. Haven't we had our fill on those guys?"

She had a point, and Caitlin let out a sigh. First Eobard Thawn... then Savitar... now Abra Kadabra. She was starting to feel like they were constantly behind.

"64th century..." Joe murmured wonderingly. "What exactly are you after him for?"

Gypsy seemed a bit thrown by the question, but she recovered quickly. "He's at the top of the collectors most-wanted list," she said. "Showed up on my Earth a few years back, and did a string of robberies that ended with a lot of people losing their lives."

Her gaze dropped, and Caitlin had a sneaking suspicion that one of those people had been someone she cared about.

"Showed up again a couple weeks ago," Gypsy continued. "Looted some tech companies."

"And came here to do the same thing?" Iris asked. "Why?"

"He must have needed our Earth's tech for something," Joe suggested.

Cisco nodded in agreement. "Well, whatever it is, we can definitely help you figure it out. 'Cause I don't know about you guys, but ever since you were here last time, I've been hoping for some more awesome-vibe-action!" he wiggled his eyebrows and Iris raised hers. Caitlin winced.

"That was way too much," Joe muttered.

"Embarrassing," Gypsy agreed. "Yeah, I just wanna catch him, so I can bring him back to Earth-19 and put him down."

Cisco nodded, his energy significantly more subdued. "We can help you do that."

"I'm going to check and see if Julian's gotten anything," Joe said, turning and walking out the door.

"In the meantime," Cisco interjected. "We can figure out where this guys disappeared off to."

He and Gypsy followed Joe out of the room, ready to get to work.

 **Flash!**

Barry, Gypsy and Cisco got their first location of Abra Kadabra after only a couple of hours, but when they rushed to the scene, it turned out just to be a hologram.

The Abra Kadabra that appeared at STAR Labs, however, was most definitely _not_ a hologram.

The white haired malefactor appeared with hands neatly folded in front of him, a polite, calm expression on his face, even as Joe pulled his gun. "You make a move, you'll regret it," the cop threatened.

"Do you know how many times I've heard that, detective?" Abra said blandly. He shot out his hand and Joe pulled the trigger, but instead of a bullet, water began to pour out of the gun. Joe looked at it in horror. They were now completely defenseless.

"Told you," Abra said with a shrug. He waved his other hand, and sparks exploded from the computer monitor, throwing Joe, Caitlin and Julian back. Smoke clouded Caitlin's vision and she groaned, head aching. Julian crawled over to her and helped her to her feet, before the two of them followed Joe out of the Cortex at a run.

They raced into Cisco's lab, Julian clutching at his arm, and Joe grabbed Harry's chunky black gun. "Guys, move to the side," he commanded, and Caitlin followed Julian behind a table for cover as Abra came into the room.

The second Joe fired Abra raised his hands and vanished. He reappeared behind Joe and lit out with a fist, knocking him out cold. Caitlin fumbled for her phone, hurriedly pressing the Flash-Alert button as he picked up the gun from Joe's hands and located them.

"Now, I can get what I came for."

Caitlin and Julian held up their hands in surrender. Right before Abra could fire, a flash of yellow lightning lit up the room and Barry skidded to a halt in front of the dangerous magician, slapping a pair of power dampening handcuffs onto his wrists.

"Everyone okay?" he asked as Joe got to his feet, rubbing his head. There wasn't a definite answer but he let it drop for a moment, turning a glare onto Abra. "Magic or not, you're not getting out of these."

"Maybe not," breathed Abra, looking for the first time to be unnerved. "But if you let me go, I will tell you Savitar's greatest secret. It's the key to defeating him; the key to stopping him!"

"What secret?" Barry asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Abra Kadabra stared down at him with wild eyes. "I know who he is. _I know his name_."

Barry's face went pale and his eyes dropped. Caitlin could almost see him debating whether to take Abra's offer. She bit her lip, not trusting him.

Before any decisions could be made, Gypsy storming into the room. "Hand him over!" she commanded.

Barry looked over at her, then back at Abra, then at Gypsy, then back again. Then, making up his mind, he pulled back and punched Abra Kadabra square in the face.

 **Flash!**

It was tough for Barry to look anyone in his team in the eye. Gypsy thought Abra's offer was ridiculous. "He's lying, obviously!" she cried angrily before storming out of the room. Cisco had to agree with her, and felt like Barry should let her take him back to Earth-19. Iris thought the same thing.

"I refuse to have to release a wanted criminal just so that you _might_ find out something that _could_ save me," she said practically, though Barry could tell that she, too was tempted by the offer. Joe was too, even more so. He wanted to take Abra up on the deal, even though he hadn't outright said that.

Caitlin wasn't sure. On one hand, it seemed like Abra had hurt a lot of people. He deserved to be locked up just as much as any other metahuman. But the information he could give them... wouldn't stopping Savitar save even more lives that stopping the technological magician?

It was Joe that broke down first.

He went to Abra's cell and let him out, and Abra was just about to reveal his secret (maybe), when Gypsy appeared.

Abra used Joe's distraction to dematerialize out of his open cell.

"Kadabra's loose in the building!" Cisco yelled into the comms. Julian and Cisco, who were walking towards the Cortex to join Barry, looked up, then broke into a run.

They heard gunshots and Caitlin turned around. "Come on!" she cried. "We need to see if we can help!"

"Caitlin-" Julian started, but he hurried after her anyway.

They found Joe and Abra facing each other in front of the elevator. Caitlin skidded at stop just as the white haired malefactor tossed some sort of powered orb into the air. It flew and exploded, sending the three of them flying backwards for the second time that day.

Debris fell down all over, and a large metal structure tumbled on top of Caitlin. She groaned, blinking dust out of her eyes, and Julian crawled over to her.

"You okay?" he asked, and she nodded, allowing him to grab her hand and pulled her out from under the debris.

The second she sat up, however, pain flared through her side. Caitlin gasped and her hand shot downward, and both of them stared in horror at the metal pole imbedded into her.

It only took a second for Barry to hear Julian and Joe's cries for help and come rushing down the hallway. He was closely followed by Wally, and the two of them helped stand Caitlin up and lead her at a quick pace toward the Cortex.

She was groaning, almost unintelligible in her pain, and Barry felt nausea rising in his throat. "It's okay," he whispered over and over, grabbing her hand so she had something to squeeze. "It's okay."

"Grab the- the x-ray machine, grab it!" Julian commanded, stumbling over his words in his haste to get them out.

Cisco dove across the room and yanked the x-ray over Caitlin. Julian took it from him and held it over Caitlin's middle section. The pole that had impaled her had broken off, but as Julian now saw, there were pieces of shrapnel now imbedded in Caitlin's skin.

"It's- It's bad," Julian breathed. "There's- there's quite a bit of shrapnel in there and some deep enough to pierce your kidney if not removed immediately."

Julian removed the x-ray and Cisco hurriedly passed Barry a cloth to press to the wound. Barry pushed down, trying to block out Caitlin whimpers of pain.

"Guys, we have to get her to a hospital," Iris said gravely.

"We can't; they're gonna ID her as a meta," Cisco said.

"Yeah, and not just any meta," Wally added, shaking his head. "One they have a file on for attacking CCPD."

"Then what are we going to do? None of us are doctors and she can't operate on herself!" Iris cried.

"We do have another option," Cisco said softly. "When Caitlin goes meta, her metabolic rate offsets cold tissue destruction. She could regenerate."

"No!" Caitlin croaked, squeezing Barry's hand and forcing him to look at her. "We're _not_ going to take of my necklace! I don't need a hospital. All I need is a mirror and set of steady hands." She tore her gaze away from Barry and stared hard at Julian. "You were a field medic in the royal army, right?"

Julian shook his head desperately, sweat trickling down his temple. "What? No, I- I've never operated on anyone before."

Caitlin shook her head. Her face was almost as pale as it got when she turned into Killer Frost, dark circles underneath her eyes the only color left besides her lips. "That's okay, I'll walk you through it."

"Caitlin," Barry interjected. "You're talking about staying awake during your _own surgery_."

"I'm putting my life in your hands," she said desperately. "I trust you."

 **Flash!**

It didn't take them too long to prepare Caitlin for surgery. Cisco hooked Caitlin up to as many pain meds a possible without knocking her out. Barry busied himself with helping her change into blue medical clothes and cleaning the blood away from the wound as best he could. Caitlin helped him keep pressure on the injury to try and staunch the blood flow until Julian could start operating on her. Iris gathered a couple of swabs to keep the blood away from the wound once the surgery started, and Julian prepared his tools (and himself) for what was about to happen.

Once Julian was back in the room, Caitlin took a deep breath. "You ready?"

If possible, Julian seemed more nervous then her. Barry didn't blame him- he would probably be having a nervous breakdown if it was him who had to do the operating. "Ready as I'll ever be," Julian breathed, readying his tools.

"Let's start with the shrapnel near the surface," Caitlin instructed.

"Just... let me know if I do anything wrong, okay?"

Julian pressed his tweezers to the top of the gash and Caitlin let out a small "ah" of pain. Barry pressed in between Iris and Cisco and took her hand. "Shhh..." he whispered, thumb rubbing soothing circles on the back of her hand. "You're okay. You can do this."

"That's the first bit, well done," Julian reported, and the tiny piece of metal plinked off of his tweezers and into the bowl he had beside him.

Iris pressed the cotton swabs to Caitlin's wound as more blood seeped out, soaking it up so it wouldn't get in Julian's way.

"Okay..." Julian breathed, and pulled out another piece.

Caitlin gritted her teeth, hissing in pain, as a giant glob of blood spurted out with the piece. "Whoa, whoa whoa whoa," Iris said, hurriedly catching it on her swabs. "Is there supposed to be this much blood?"

"It's normal for... the shrapnel to... cavitate the displaced tissue," Caitlin managed. "But if I loose to much blood I'll start hemorrhaging."

"Okay," Julian said again, and hurriedly pulled out the third piece of shrapnel. Caitlin squeezed Barry's hand, _hard_ , and he rubbed his face. He found his entire body was trembling and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. It was going to be fine. It was going to be perfectly fine.

"Alright, nearly done, hang in there," Julian said supportively as he reached for another piece.

Caitlin chomped down on her lip and let out a small cry as the audible sound of moving flesh filled the air. Julian quickly placed the shrapnel into the bole. "Okay, well done. That's all the pieces near the surface."

"Okay, great, now it's time for the hard one," Caitlin said, somehow still managing to sound calm and in control. "You're doing great. You've got this, Julian. It's wedged between my kidney and my inferior vena cava and it's surrounded by some major blood vessels. If you hit them, there's a good chance I'll go into shock."

Julian swallowed audibly, shooting her a glance. "Shock."

"It's okay," Caitlin said again. "You've got this."

Julian nodded and carefully reached for the shrapnel.

"Ahhh..." Caitlin groaned, her face going almost grey.

"Heart rates increasing," Cisco murmured. He was rigid, eyes on the monitor.

"Okay, I've got it," Julian reported.

"Great, pull it out!" Caitlin croaked. Barry rested his hand on her hair, stroking it and feeling her pulse pounding in her temple.

"I can't, Caitlin, it's stuck," Julian gritted out, his hands trembling violently.

" _Turn it_."

"Guys, it's getting up there," Cisco said, the volume of his voice rising dangerously.

"There might be a tendon in the way," Caitlin said.

Barry hated to lose any sort of optimism that he team might have felt, but someone had to ask. "And what if it's not?"

"Then I will _rip this necklace off_ ," Cisco said, his jaw working.

" _NO_ ," Caitlin said firmly, glaring at him. "I would rather die."

The room was silent for a moment, filled only by the rapid beeps of the heart monitor and the rustle of Iris' medical gown as she pressed more gauze to the wound. Julian locked eyes with the woman on the bed. "Caitlin," he said softly. "This is going to hurt."

He twisted his wrist and pulled and Caitlin let out a scream, cutting off all the circulation to Barry's fingers as she clamped down on his hands. Blood gushed from the wound and Iris hurriedly pressed a disposable towel to Caitlin's skin to try and stop the flow.

Caitlin's head flopped back to the pillows and she let out a very long breath through her teeth. She made eye contact with Julian again, her eyelids fluttering. "Can you please stitch me up because I think I need to pass out."

"Yes, yes, of course. Well done," Julian mumbled as he reached for the needle and began his work.

Right before her eyes slipped shut, Caitlin exchanged a glance with Barry. "I love you," he managed, and she smiled faintly before dropping into unconsciousness.

Almost the second after the grip on Barry's hand slackened, all of the blood drained from Barry's face. He flashed over to the trashcan by Cisco's desk and was violently sick. Iris walked over and rubbed his back. "She's okay, Barry," she said soothingly. "She's going to be fine."

Panting, Barry nodded and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. Cisco passed him a glass of water and Barry drank it before hurriedly cleaning out the trashcan.

Julian, Iris, Barry and Cisco all filed into the small branching room from the Cortex, where Joe and Wally were waiting. Julian stripped off his latex gloves and let out a long breath. "She's going to be okay."

"Oh thank _God_ ," Joe murmured, rubbing his forehead.

"Julian- what you did back there... that was amazing. Seriously... thank you." Barry said softly. "I... If she-"

"No problem, mate," Julian said with a quick nod. "I'm just glad I could help."

 **Flash!**

After Team Flash (with the addition of Gypsy) had caught Abra Kadabra, and Barry had resisted the urge to beat the living heck out of him for what he had done to Caitlin, the speedster found himself back at Caitlin's side. She was still out, pain meds, exhaustion and her body's recovery keeping her down longer then any of them had expected.

It had been weird for Barry to be in the field without her in his ear, knowing that she was there if he needed backup. The last time that had happened was probably when he went to fight her as Killer Frost. Not the nicest thought in the world, so Barry cleared his mind and just focused on _Caitlin_.

As he watched her sleep, her eyelids began to flicker, and slowly Caitlin turned towards him. Barry leaned forward, squeezing her hand lightly. "Hey."

Caitlin licked her lips a little and swallowed. "I'm still here."

"Yeah," Barry breathed. "I wasn't going to let you go that easy."

"Kadabra?"

"Gone," Barry assured her. "He's gone for good."

Caitlin smiled softly at him, and Barry reached out to touch her face. "How do you feel?"

"Mm... I've been better," Caitlin admitted. "I've also been worse. Like earlier today."

"That's fair," Barry murmured, huffing out a laugh. "Julian said to say sorry- he thinks his stitching work 'leaves a bit to be desired'."

Caitlin giggled at the quotes he made with his free hand and her eyes slid down to where the wound had been. "That's okay. I've never been much of a two piece bathing suit kind of gal, anyway."

Barry nodded, but his mind was elsewhere. "I can't believe what you did, Caitlin," he said softly. "I mean... staying awake during your own surgery, that's one thing, but managing to stay calm and collected -even more so then the rest of us... You just... you blew me away. I mean, I knew you were brave, and I- I knew you were strong but... I had no idea that it was to this level."

Caitlin smiled gently at him, and Barry stood up, leaning over her and brushing their lips together. His hand slipped unconsciously to her side, and Caitlin gasped a little.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry," Barry stuttered, hurriedly pulling away. "That's was- I'm so sorry."

Caitlin shook her head, amused. "That's some bedside manner you've got there."

Barry snickered. "Well, you're the one who gets all the practice taking care of me, not the other way around." He smiled down at her and took hold of her hand again, kissing the fingertips. "Just rest."

 **Flash!**

Barry wasn't sure what happened, but one second he was hearing the sound of Caitlin and Cisco's voices carrying down the hall, the next Cisco was screaming for help.

He flashed the rest of the way into the Cortex to find his fiancé seizing on the bed, Cisco by her side, trying to hold her down.

"HELP!" Cisco yelled. "Somebody help!"

Barry skidded to a stop beside him. "W-what happened? What happened?!"

"I don't know, she just started seizing," Cisco explained quickly. "Hold her down!"

"HR, get her legs!" Barry ordered at the man who had just hurried back into the room. "Hold her down!"

Suddenly, Caitlin went completely still. The whole room went completely still.

The heart monitor went silent.

Cisco tentatively held his hand over Caitlin's mouth. When he dropped it, his face was so pale Barry reached out an arm in case he fainted right then and there.

"She's not breathing," Cisco muttered, and Barry felt he had just been plunged into negative 20 degree water.

"I'm getting an ambulance in her _right now_ ," HR said, scrambling for his phone.

"HR, grab the crash cart," Cisco instructed, taking charge again. "Barry, grab the oxygen. Wheel it over here!"

Barry hurriedly pressed an oxygen mask to Caitlin's face, making sure it was secure and fighting the tears that were welling up in his eyes.

"Okay," Cisco said, starting compressions on Caitlin's chest. "Slow and steady, that's it."

"What is happening?" Barry breathed.

"She may have burst a blood clot- I- I don't know."

"Cisco!" HR called over, searching for something to do.

"Charge the paddles!" Cisco said. "No- no give me the paddles!"

Cisco rubbed them together, spun, and pressed them to Caitlin's chest. Her entire body jolted on the bed as electricity rushed from the metal and to her heart.

Barry hurriedly put back on the oxygen mask, and they waited.

 _Nothing_.

"All the way, turn it up to the top!" Cisco commanded. "All the way!"

"Okay, you ready?"

"Clear!"

The paddles zapped again. Barry rubbed his hand through his hair. There were tears on Cisco's cheeks.

They tried twice more before the paddles clattered out of Cisco's hands. Barry's hand shook on the oxygen mask as Cisco started compressions again. "She's coming back," Barry mumbled. "Cisco _please_ -"

His voice broke and he fell to his knees, pressing Caitlin's hand against his lips. Her fingers were icy cold.

"She's gone," HR breathed.

Before Barry knew what he was doing, he was reaching for Caitlin's necklace. It came off easily, even as Cisco grabbed his arm. "Stop!" he cried, face wet. "That's not what she wanted!"

"I don't care!" Barry yelled. "I can't- I can't lose her, okay?" He leaned back over the bed and cupped her face. "Okay? C'mon, Caitlin."

The flat-line buzzing nose continued for a second longer, before finally coming to a stop. HR turned around as a slow, steady beeping filled the air again. Barry felt a warm, tingly wave of relief crash over him, and he hurriedly reached down for Caitlin's lower stomach area, where the stitches were.

As he pulled back the bandage, a shiver of frost floated over Caitlin's skin. The scar, the stitches, the remaining red marks from the wound... all of it disappeared. Barry glanced towards Caitlin's face, searching for some sort of sign that she was okay. Her skin underneath his fingertips felt no less warm, and when she breathed out a small puff of frost flitted away from her lips.

Suddenly, Caitlin's eyes flew open. They were ice blue. Barry's eyes widened in shock before he, Cisco and HR were suddenly thrown backward by an explosion of Frost.

When he opened his eyes again, Caitlin was gone, but there was someone still standing the Cortex.

 _Killer Frost_.

 **Author's Note: AHHHHHHH D':**

 **Okay, so that wasn't actually as bad as I thought it was going to be but stilllll...**

 **Wow, we only have one more to go in SS3! Then I'm going to do a couple scenes from other episodes, include 3x19, 3x17 and more if I can think of them. I'll make sure to clarify in the chapter title the episode name and if it's a scene or not.**


	6. 3x23

**Author's Note: YAYYYYY I'm actually really excited to do this one! The ending will change a little bit, but Barry is still going to be going into the Speed Force, as cannon.**

 **"** **As cannon"... is that actually a thing I can say?**

 **Sorry, this beginning bit of the chapter is a little confusing. To be completely honest, I was a little confused about the whole time remnant paradox thingy myself. Hopefully you know the plot line before reading this chapter, though, so it shouldn't be** ** _too_** **much of a problem.**

Iris wasn't dead.

It was a huge improvement to the situation a couple minutes ago, when Iris _had_ been dead. But now Iris _wasn't_ dead, and instead HR, who was disguised as Iris, was dead, and Tracy was in pieces, but Iris _wasn't dead_ , and Savitar was gone but he wasn't _gone_ , he wasn't defeated, not yet, but Iris wasn't dead so-

It was all very confusing but Barry didn't particularly focus on the details. He mourned HR, he celebrated Iris still being alive, and he kept the fake smile on his face that had been there since four months ago.

Because Caitlin was still Killer Frost, and everything was very much _not okay_.

They all went back to STAR Labs to regroup, including Julian Albert, who had just arrived. In theory, Savitar should be erased from existence because of Time Remnants and Time Travel and Iris' death being a turning point in Barry's dark side. Because, by the way, Savitar was _actually Barry_ , from the future, a Time Remnant. Again, all very confusing.

Barry was a little concerned, however. Even if Savitar _did_ disappear into the time stream, paradox style, Barry had the sneaking suspicion that Iris' death hadn't been the only thing that pushed him over the edge and into creating time remnants (which then created Savitar). Caitlin was still Killer Frost- that bit hadn't changed- and just because Iris was alive didn't make Barry any more whole. The dark path foreshadowed by Savitar's existence was still a possibility, no matter how much Barry wanted to ignore it.

Not only that, but even if Iris not dying created a paradox and destroyed Savitar, it would still take a few hours. And a super-speedster with almost unlimited power _and_ a speed cannon that he had taken for mysterious purposes could do a whole lot of damage in a few hours.

"Guys, we can't just sit around and wait for Savitar to disappear," Iris commented.

"Savitar won't become Savitar if he's erased," Julian said.

But Barry shook his head. "Not unless he pulls off whatever he's got in mind before the paradox hits him. He's stole the bazooka for a reason."

"Yeah," Joe agreed. "Why?"

"I don't know. Remember, he's been planning this for centuries. He wants to be a god. He must need the bazooka and-" Abruptly, Barry's voice wavered. He swallowed heavily and pressed on. "And Caitlin to achieve his goals."

Joe let out a long sigh. "Anybody got any good news?"

"Actually..." Julian rooted in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a long, thin vial filled with murky blue liquid. "Voila."

"What is that?"

"This, detective," Julian answered, his eyes on the vial. "Is a cure for Caitlin."

"You're kidding," Barry gaped. He was impressed beyond belief. "You figured it out?"

Julian nodded. "But not by myself. I had the help of... Caitlin's mother."

Now Barry couldn't help but feel the _tiniest_ bit jealous. He had never even _met_ Caitlin's mother, and he and Caitlin had been dating for three years. Now Julian had managed to save Caitlin's life, come up with a cure for her, _and_ meet her mother in the span of just a few months? It was a good thing that there seemed to be no competition between the two men in Caitlin's eyes, or else Barry might be in for some trouble.

"This is experimental gene therapy," Julian was saying. "This- this will rewrite Caitlin's meta DNA. This will bring back, well, Caitlin."

Before Barry could respond beyond a grateful smile, a burst of yellow lightning made them all look up. Wally flashed into the Cortex, his face creased with worry. "I searched the entire forest. Savitar and Caitlin were gone... and so was Cisco."

Barry's jaw tightened, his eyes darkening with concern. "Savitar has them both."

 **Flash!**

Savitar did indeed have both Cisco and Caitlin. He was forcing Cisco to create a splicer that would put his consciousness into every single moment of time. The past, the present, the future... there would no longer be a time without Savitar.

Cisco was completely prepared not to do it. He was willing to lose his life to save the world from this lunatic. But Savitar knew that, and Savitar knew _him_ , and he knew what would make Cisco work.

"I'm not going to kill you," Savitar murmured to Cisco, soft enough that Killer Frost, working in the corner, couldn't hear. "I'm going to kill _her_."

"You're going to kill her?" Cisco said flatly. "Caitlin? The love of your life? The person you would rather _die_ that let anyone hurt her?"

"I lost the ability to love a _long_ time ago, Francisco," Savitar said softly. He had his mask off, and in the dim light it was hard to imagine that he wasn't really Barry. "Besides... as you and your little team keep saying _over_ and _over_ again... that's not my Caitlin."

"No, she's not," Cisco growled, suddenly furious. "No, she's _Barry's_ Caitlin, white hair or not. And I swear, once he realizes what you're going to do to her-"

"Shut up." Savitar sent him a glare and quickly glanced over at Killer Frost. She didn't look up, still oblivious to the conversation. "Barry Allen... the _Flash_ , can do nothing to harm me-" he broke off suddenly, head tilting as new memories flooded his brain. "Oooh... you know what I just remembered? Julian came back. He has a _cure_. You can get your little Caitlin Snow back... but not if she's dead."

He reached up and tousled Cisco's hair, smirking. He knew he had him trapped. "So put that mechanical genius to work. Make me what I need. And I will let you _both_ go."

 **Flash!**

It what was possibly the dumbest or most genius move of his life, Barry called Savitar to a meeting.

He believed ( _had to_ , for the sake of his own sanity), that deep down Savitar was still him. He was still a future, hurting Barry Allen, who had lost his sister and his father and the love of his life all in one terrible evening, and had been created and then consequently abandoned by the people who he thought loved him.

Barry was waiting when Savitar arrived. It was odd to see his lightning a familiar yellow color, instead of the blue he had come to associate with him.

"I wasn't sure you'd come," Barry greeted, his voice filling the silence. "Must be an odd sensation... getting new memories. Having and uncertain future."

"What do you want?" Savitar growled, walking towards Barry. "I'm busy."

"With what?" Barry asked, laughing humorlessly. "Getting erased from existence?"

"We will see which one of us gets erased," Savitar responded ominously.

Barry shook his head, incredulous. He would have liked to think that knowing that you were about to be _erased from existence_ would change someone to find their better angels, but apparently not. "Are you _still_ planning on becoming a god?"

"Cisco and Caitlin are still alive, if that's what you're worried about."

"I know. You need them, right? To pull of your grand ascension."

Savitar finally stopped circling the room and turned to look at him. "Look, _Barry_ , if I wanted to talk to myself, I could have done that back at my lair. _What. Do. You. Want_?"

"I want to help you," Barry responded.

He saw the disbelief on Savitar's face before he even spoke. "Really."

"Yeah," Barry said. "You don't have much time before the Paradox reaches you. Come back to STAR Labs. Let Cisco and- and Caitlin go, and let us figure out a way to save you."

Savitar raised an eyebrow. "You really think I'd trust you?"

Barry shrugged. "You showed up," he shot back. "So you remember me coming here. Did I have any tricks up my sleeve? Was I planning on blindsiding you?"

"I dunno, Barry; maybe I get off on watching you grovel."

"No, I don't think that's it," Barry said. "I think you're hearing me. I'm still in there. Deep down, buried beneath the scars and that pain... apart of you that must feel _so lonely_. But it also knows what it's like to have a family. To have friends. You can have all that back- more then just taking Caitlin. We can stop hurting each other."

Savitar looked at him, his eyes, for the first time, looking vulnerable, and Barry knew that he had gotten him.

Now all that he had to do was bring him home.

 **Flash!**

Team Flash didn't take the entrance of Savitar well. As Barry had been doing for the last few months, he imagined what would have happened if Caitlin had been there. She probably would have giving Savitar a tentative smile, refusing to be impolite even through all the pain he had caused everyone, and pulled Barry aside.

"Are you sure about this?" Caitlin would have asked, her eyes so brown and large and completely trusting of Barry's leadership.

And he would have smiled and maybe kissed her forehead. " _Yes_ ," he would have said, and she would have believed in him 100%. She might have gone over to Savitar, held out her hand. "Hi. I'm Dr. Caitlin Snow, and... I apologize for any way I might have treated you in the future."

Barry wished she was here now, to do those very things. It would have been so much better then the still silence that greeted his evil alter-ego as he stepped through the entrance to the Cortex.

"If you make a move towards Iris..." Joe said, letting his words drop off threateningly.

"He won't," Barry said.

"Where's Cisco?" Julian asked, glaring at Savitar. "And Caitlin?"

"They're safe," Barry assured him, but Julian barely spared him a glance.

"I was asking him."

Savitar walked slowly into the room, ignoring Julian's question for a moment. "You show me that you can help me," he said finally. "And I will tell you where your friends are."

"You tell us now or you go up in smoke," Joe shot back.

That brought on an onslaught of yelling from both Joe and Julian, before Barry finally raised his voice, too. "Hey, guys! Stop. It's okay. Everyone, just..."

His voice trailed off as Iris approached him slowly. She took a deep breath and placed a shaking hand on his shoulder. "We're going to help you," she promised softly.

Barry saw Savitar's body shudder at the contact. "Thank you," he whispered, almost inaudible.

After Tracy had come in and basically refused to help save Savitar, and Barry had sent in Harry Wells to talk to her, he found himself alone in the room with Savitar.

"I... I remember one moment, about a year ago," Barry said softly, sitting down into the familiar mattress of the gurney in the medical room. "It happened right there in that Cortex, after Cisco and I had gotten back from Earth-2. That- that was the first time I ever heard of Killer Frost. The first time any of us had."

Savitar's eyes slid downward, his face an unreadable mask.

"I- I had just talked about honoring Jay's death," Barry said. He huffed. "That was, of course, before I figured out how much of a monster Jay Garrick was, but that's besides the point. I started talking about life, and love, and how things don't last forever."

"And then someone pushed Caitlin around the desk," Savitar said, his voice soft and uncharacteristically gentle. "And I- _you_ \- got down on one knee."

"I proposed to her that day," Barry finished. He glanced quickly at Savitar, and, all in a rush, asked: "How is she? Is she- does she seem alright? Happy, at least? Even if she's Killer Frost? Does she- is she still- is she still wearing her ring?"

Savitar laughed softly. "That's a lot of questions, Barry. Which one do you want to know the most?"

Barry sighed, rubbing his forehead. It had been too much to hope that he would actually be able to find out how Caitlin was doing through himself.

But Savitar, once again, surprised him. "She still has the ring on."

Barry glanced up.

"I've seen her, at night. She'll give me this look when I take off my mask right before we go to sleep. Her eyes turn brown for a moment- just one, tiny second- and I can almost see the struggle inside of her. Sometimes, her hand shakes, like she wants to reach out and touch me. But then the cold returns, every night, and she doesn't say a word."

Barry felt his heart do an odd clenching-lifting-aching combo. "I- I miss her," he breathed. " _God_ , I miss her so much."

Savitar squinted at him, the scars in his face much clearer in the brighter light of the lab. "How is this all going to work?" he asked suddenly. "Are Wally and I going to be bunk mates? And what about the wedding? Do I sit brides side, or grooms side?"

With a sudden aching thought, Barry realized that if they saved Savitar, there would be two completely whole Barrys in one world; in one city. How was that supposed to work?

"How about this?" Savitar suggested. "You get Caitlin, I get Killer Frost. It's like we'll share the same woman but get two completely different people at the same time. I'm sure she'd agree to it."

Barry swallowed. "I- I don't know," he managed. "I don't have all the answers yet. But we'll figure it out."

Savitar must have seen something on his face, because the odd light that had been in his eyes faded. "No," he said, his voice going hard. "This isn't going to work, and we both know it."

He turned to walk out of the room, but Barry caught his arm. "Stop," he pleaded. "Please. I promise you, we'll figure something out. It doesn't have to be like this. Just tell me where Cisco and Caitlin are."

Savitar hesitated for a long moment, his eyes searching Barry's face. Then he nodded. "I'll bring them home."

With that, he flashed out of the lab, leaving Barry alone.

A second later, a rapid beeping sound came from the Cortex. Frowning, Barry hurried out of the room. "What is it?"

"Uh, there's an- an energy reading from the Breach Room," Harry reported distractedly. "And that's not breach energy."

Julian got to his feet, face pale. "It's the Philosopher's Stone," he realized. "It's releasing the energy."

A pit formed in Barry's stomach. "Savitar," he said quietly.

A glowing blue orb appeared in the Breach Room. Joe pointed at the video feed. "It looks like it's gonna blow."

Barry turned to his partner. "Wally," he ordered. "Get everyone out."

Then he ran.

 **Flash!**

Savitar flashed into the room and Killer Frost looked up. "How'd it go?" she asked.

"As I expected," Savitar responded. His face was back to it's usual hate-filled mask. "I was a fool to think otherwise."

"Where did he go?" Cisco demanded, looking at Killer Frost. When she didn't immediately respond he turned his gaze to Savitar. "What did you do?!"

"I got rid of a problem," Savitar said simply. "A few of them. Now I can fix mine." He rested his hand on the bazooka-turned-splicer. "Are we ready?"

"Yes," Killer Frost responded, her voice icy-calm.

Savitar gazed at her out of the corner of his eye and nodded at Cisco. "Do it."

Killer Frost's fingers swirled with ice, and she stepped around Savitar and toward Cisco.

"Listen to me," Cisco muttered, voice hoarse. "He'll do it. He'll kill you."

Caitlin shrugged. "I'll take my chances."

She pulled back her arms and was about to strike when a sudden blue flash made her pause. Gypsy, inter-dimensional hero and fellow-viber, appeared out of nowhere and pushed Cisco into a breach.

Just like that, they were gone, a stray icicle from Killer Frost following after them.

"You don't care that they got away?" she demanded, glaring.

"No, it doesn't matter," Savitar responded. "It's time."

He grabbed the bazooka and roughly lifted it up off the table.

 **Flash!**

Cisco and Gypsy appeared in the middle of Barry's apartment's staircase. Cisco tumbled down it and then sat up, rubbing his head. "Ow..." he turned his gaze on Gypsy, who had managed to stick her landing. "What were you doing?! I was getting through to her!"

"What you were doing was getting yourself killed," Gypsy shot back. "Something that was so obvious that I was able to vibe it across the multiverse! I cannot believe this is the thanks I get."

"Uh, guys?" Iris interrupted before a full-blown vibe-battle could commence.

Cisco glanced over and his mouth dropped open. Barry waved.

"What?" he gaped, stumbling to his feet and grabbing Iris in a tight hug. "How're you alive? Savitar- he said you were all dead! I thought- I thought you were dead _again_."

Iris wrapped her arms around him and rubbed his back. "It's okay," she breathed, exchanging a glance with Barry over his shoulder as Cisco shuddered. Barry couldn't imagine that this had been at all easy for him- his girlfriend's supposed death, his work-partner's actually death, his best friend's turn to the dark side, and then finding out that all of the people he cared about were dead from a psychopath that looked like his _other_ best friend...

Barry rested a hand on his shoulder and for a moment they all stood in his living room, trying to give Cisco the moment he needed to get himself together.

When he finally pulled back his eyes were red-rimmed but his face was set. "I know what he's up to," he said. "I know how we can stop him."

Barry nodded, ready. "Okay," he responded. "Let's do this."

 **Flash!**

When Jay Garrick flashed out of the breach, the "god-making process" was already underway. Black Flash was in pieces of ice in the grass, a large breach was swirling in the middle of the abandoned park, and Killer Frost had the splicer trained on Savitar.

Jay ran out of the breach from where he had been trapped in the Speed Force and slammed into Savitar. The metal-plated speedster crashed across the grass and Killer Frost lowered the splicer, her eyes wide.

"I've been waiting a long time for that," Jay said, grinning triumphantly.

Savitar hurled himself back to his feet. "How- how did you-"

"He didn't," Cisco said, striding forward and tossing Jay Garrick his metal helmet. "I did. By changing the polarity of the climbing arc, I turned your Speed Force splicer into a Speed Force skeleton key. You didn't think I was actually going to let you become a god, did you?"

Even through the armor, Barry could tell Savitar was furious. Barry kept his eyes on him, fueling his rage. He knew if he even looked at Killer Frost for one _second_ , standing beside this monster's side, it would be his undoing.

"Let's end this," he declared.

"Go!" Killer Frost shouted, sending a wave of ice at her old team as Savitar flashed off, Kid Flash and Barry hot on his heels.

Savitar ran off into the woods, smashing through trees with his armor spikes and trying to stop the approach of the other sides speedsters. Finally, he leapt into the air with what seemed like an inhuman amount of force and sent a beam of lightning straight at Wally and Barry.

The force sent them flying backwards, and halfway across the park, another person was flying backward, too.

Killer Frost smashed back against the ground, tossed backward by one of Gypsy's red vibe-blasts. Cisco approached her, glaring, arm raised.

"Go ahead," Killer Frost spat. "End it."

After a long, tense pause, Cisco's arm dropped. "No," he said. "I won't. I never will. But- I will give you a choice." he reached into his pocket and pulled out the vial of the cure that Julian had created. "If you want to be Caitlin again, then here you go."

Killer Frost's eyes dropped away from his, following the vial as it landed softly in the grass in front of her. Before she could say a word, Savitar flashed back into the clearing. He knocked Gypsy aside and grabbed Cisco by the throat.

"You'll pay for what you did," he growled. "And you can die the same way twice!"

He raised his hand back, vibrating it high above Cisco's chest, ready to strike.

Something in Caitlin snapped.

The next thing she knew, she was on her feet and Savitar was being knocked backward by a stream of frost. Cisco rolled to a half-seating position, gaping at her, and Caitlin's spine straightened. It may have been her choice to join Savitar, relieved at finally finding a Barry that understood embracing the evil inside, but it was going to be her choice to leave, too.

That was something she didn't need a cure for.

She strode across the grass and helped Cisco up. Savitar got to his feet as well. "I knew you didn't have it in you, Caitlin."

Before he could even move, however, a frantic stream of reddish lightning shot across the grass. Caitlin could have cried. _Barry_.

But Savitar was prepared, and smashed his hand into Barry's face, stopping him in his path and sending him into the grass. Caitlin winced.

Savitar loomed over Barry, wheezing slightly. "I only have a few minutes left," he rasped. "I can feel it. But before I go, I'm going to kill Cisco, and Joe, and Iris, and your _precious Caitlin_. If I die, then everything you love is going to die, too!"

He turned, ready to run off, and that was when Barry moved. With a cry of rage that he hadn't even realized he possessed, Barry shot off the grass. Just as he reached Savitar, he vibrated himself as if he was going to faze, and shoved Savitar right out of his suit.

Savitar landed heavily on the ground, no longer looking so imposing without his armor.

"How does it feel," Barry bellowed. He barely noticed that the color of the suit had turned red and he looked even more evil then Savitar had. "To get _so close_ to your ascension, and then end up on the ground?!"

Savitar twisted around, trying to push himself away from Barry but unable to get to his feet. "Now I see," he panted. "It's written."

" _Nothing is written_!" Barry yelled.

Savitar lunged to his feet and moved in for the attack, but nothing could get through Barry's armor. A few hard hits and Savitar was back on his knees in the dirt.

He looked terrified.

Barry lifted his arm, a metal spear growing out of the suit at will. It was the same one that had been used to stab him in the shoulder a few months ago. This was just bringing it full circle.

But still, Barry hesitated.

Savitar, seething on the grass, his arms held wide as if embracing death, screamed, "DO IT! You kill me; you become me. _Either way_ , I live."

Suddenly, the mad haze that had thrown itself over Barry dissipated. He found his hand was shaking, and he looked at the spear jutting out of it as if seeing it for the first time.

It retracted easily, and Barry threw his head back, vibrating. It wasn't long before the entire suit fell to metallic pieces on the grass, almost as broken as the man in front of him.

Savitar looked around him in shock, and Barry saw true fear in his eyes. "I'll never let the pain, the darkness, determine who I am," he said firmly. "I will never be you."

Savitar's eyes grew wide. Maybe now, he finally understood.

Barry punched him in the face, and he crumpled to the grass, unconscious.

Slowly, the adrenaline faded from Barry's blood. With one last glance at Savitar, Barry looked up to his friends.

A smile bloomed across Caitlin's face, soft and gentle and not at all like the cold he had gotten used to seeing. Barry felt something in his chest loosen, and he started to walk towards her.

Then her eyes grew wide, resting on something that he couldn't see, and an icicle was forming in her hand. It flew, right past Barry's head, and his brow furrowed with betrayal before he realized that it _wasn't aimed at him_.

The soft thud of a body hitting the ground made Barry turn sharply and stare.

Savitar was lying on the on the grass, his eyes open and very much dead, an icicle stuck into his chest. Barry barely had time to take it all in before bluish, vibe-colored particles were swirling around him and Savitar had disintegrated, the last of him dispersing in the wind.

 _He was gone._

Barry turned, again, faster, but Caitlin was already there. He grabbed her face, twisting his fingers into her white-blond hair, and kissed her.

No cold entered his face. No frost sucked the heat out of his body. There was just warmth, and the soft, familiar motion of Caitlin's lips against his own.

She was breathing heavily when she finally pulled back, her cheeks flushed pink. She smiled, rubbing a thumb over his lips. "I think I got some lipstick on you."

"I don't care," Barry breathed, leaning back down to kiss her again and wrapping her up in his arms.

It had been _months_ , but Caitlin Snow was finally home.

 **Flash!**

Cisco cried through HR's entire funeral.

Barry wasn't even sure if it was so much out of grief, or just the torrential flood of emotions that all of them had gone through during the past year, but he stood with Iris' arm wrapped protectively around him, face buried in her shoulder.

HR's death was a low blow. He had always been so happy, so alive, and his death was so entirely unexpected that it even left Barry reeling. Iris still felt an overwhelming amount of guilt that she had agreed to his plan. HR had died for her, and she vowed that day to not let the life he had given her go to waste.

Iris said a few words at HR's funeral. They were sweet, real, relatable, but Barry was having a hard time focusing.

There were seven of them there: Iris, Joe, Wally, Cisco, Gypsy, Jay, and himself. There was one person missing, and it tore Barry to pieces from the inside out.

He had managed to loose Caitlin in the aftermath of Savitar's death. He had walked over to help Cisco dismantle the splicer, a sort of just-in-case precaution that Barry was all for taking. Caitlin had been right beside him, her hand resting on his arm, but when he looked up again she was gone.

No one had even seen her leave, and Barry felt a crushing disappointment that she wasn't staying. Now it had been two days, and he still hadn't seen her. He was starting to get worried. He knew how self-destructive Caitlin could get when she was alone with her guilt and pain, something he was sure she had an awful lot of right now.

Iris finished up her speech and squeezed Cisco's shoulder. He bent down and placed two drumsticks on HR's grave, tears finally slowing enough for him to wipe them away and take a deep breath. Julian crouch down beside the grave to pay his respects and Wally pressed a hand to it, doing the same.

Passing an arm around Cisco's shoulders, Barry led him a little ways away. "I was waiting for the right time to tell you..."

He trailed off, and Cisco frowned. "Tell me what?"

"Right before HR died, he asked me to give you a message," Barry explained. "He wanted you to know that what he did took strength. And he said you gave it to him."

Cisco looked away.

"I know that you've had a connection with every Wells that we've met," Barry continued. "But... something about this Wells..."

"Yeah," Cisco murmured. He didn't have to be told.

Barry glanced away from him and was about to head back over to see how the Wests were holding up with his gaze caught a figure standing under a tree.

He and Cisco walked down the grassy slope just as Caitlin came around the tree. She took off her sunglasses, smiling a little as the two of them approached her.

"Well, well, well," Cisco greeted. "At least you're not shopping at Villains R Us anymore."

Caitlin didn't seem to register the joke. "I'm sorry about HR," she said softly.

"I'm sure he would have appreciated you coming," Cisco responded quietly. "Why did you come?"

Caitlin stared at her feet. "I don't know."

Barry tilted his head, wanting to reach out and hold her but restraining himself. "Maybe you wanted to come home?"

"I don't have a home," Caitlin murmured, shaking her head sadly. She finally looked up, making eye contact with Barry, and reached into her pocket. She pressed a small, blue vial into his palm. The cure. "Tell Julian thank you," she said. "But I'm just not ready to use this."

Barry rolled the vial to his fingertips and passed it back to her. "Keep it," he said quietly. "Just in case you ever want to use it."

Caitlin bit her lip but nodded, tucking the vial back into her coat. "I... I guess I came back to say goodbye."

"Caitlin-"

"No, you don't understand," Caitlin shook her head, shutting her eyes for a moment. "I.. I've done things... become someone that- that I don't understand. I need to figure that out, and I- I need to make sure that in doing so, no one else gets hurt. You all trust me, and I know you'll trust me forever, no matter what I do. But I just don't trust _myself_ , and I need you to understand that. I have to leave."

Barry swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. This couldn't be how it all ended.

But he couldn't say a word.

Caitlin started to turn, but Cisco caught at her arm. "Caitlin-" he started, but his voice faltered.

"I have to go," Caitlin said again, and his hand dropped.

Finally, Barry shook himself. "Wait!" he cried, covering the few steps that she had already taken and closing the distance between them. "Stop, Caitlin, please."

"Barry-"

" _No_ ," he said firmly, grasping her arm in case she tried to bolt. "Please, just let me say this. I've had months to think about the day you turned into Killer Frost. Months to stew over what happened, where we went wrong. I think I've finally figured it out. We were trying to push you to hide from your powers; to get rid of them. You just needed to _accept_ them. I think- I think you finally have, and that leads me to believe that the evil side of Killer Frost that was in you... she's gone. You're still _you_ , deep down, Cait. But without you, I'm- I'm- I'm nothing."

"That's not true," Caitlin said. Her eyes were large and brown, and they sparkled with tears. "You are so much without me. You're- you're _more_ without me."

"You're wrong." Barry grabbed her hand and lifted it. To his relief, a small diamond ring still sparkled on her left hand. "And that's why I gave you this. I promised you forever with this ring, and I- I know we have made our vows yet, but forever means _forever_. Sickness, and health, and grief, and pain, and crazy metahumans, and all of it. So please, just- just-" His voice crumbled and a tear rolled down his cheek.

Caitlin Snow could never say no to an crying Barry Allen.

She reached forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, tugging him into a hug. Barry hugged her tightly back, his lips pressed to the crown of her head.

When they finally let go of each other, Caitlin swallowed thickly. "Okay," she whispered. "I'll stay. But you have to know that I'm- I'm not the same Caitlin I was when I left."

Barry nodded. "I don't think any of us are the same," he admitted. "It's going to be awhile before we are, but... it'll take a whole lot shorter if I have you with me."

Caitlin mirrored his nod and Barry smiled softly at her before grabbing her hand. They both turned to find the entirety of the Team watching them, waiting for the outcome.

Barry grinned. "She said yes!"

A relieved smile crossed Cisco's face, and he rolled his eyes. "Dude, you two are already engaged. Don't make it sound like you're getting engaged _again_."

Barry only laughed, wrapping his arm around Caitlin and tugging her into his side.

And for the first time in awhile, Caitlin smiled.

 **Flash!**

Barry somehow got both he and Caitlin back to his apartment without collapsing. He was _exhausted_ , emotionally and physically. He hadn't slept much the past few night, worried about Caitlin and what had happened to her when she vanished out of the park after Savitar's defeat.

Now they both collapsed onto Barry's couch, curling into each other instinctively.

Caitlin let out a long sigh, her head slipping onto Barry's shoulder as she shut her eyes. "I missed this couch."

"Oh?" Barry huffed, mock-offended. "The couch all you missed?"

"No..." Caitlin murmured, grinning at him. "I missed the table, too. And your shoulder."

"Oh, I see how it is," Barry said teasingly. He shoved her lightly over and hovered himself over her, kissing her nose. "You didn't miss this face?"

"Mmm..." Caitlin scrunched up her face as if considering it. She was "considering it" for so long that Barry got bored and kissed her.

"Yes, yes, okay," Caitlin laughed, breathless as he pulled away. "I missed you, too."

"Love you," Barry whispered, kissing her again. Then three more times, just for good measure.

She was just starting to sit up so he wouldn't squish her when there was a terrific crack outside and the lights flickered. Caitlin frowned. "What was that?"

Barry shook his head, unsure, and they got to their feet as the entire apartment began to shake. Barry grabbed Caitlin's hand.

They both turned as the window shattered, pieces of glass crumpling to the ground. What remained was a clear view of the sky, which was stormy and filled with hundreds of bolts of speedster-red lightning.

Barry crept towards the window, shielding Caitlin with his arm, and gaped at the sky. "We need to get to STAR Labs."

 **Flash!**

It was still a mess at the Labs from the Philosopher Stone's explosion a couple of days back, and the storm had only made it worse.

"Everything's fried," Cisco said with a frown, staring at the static-filled screen of one of the many monitors. He pulled out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "Hey Wally, can you reverse the polarity of the neutron flow?"

"Allen!" Julian called as he hurried into the Bunker. "CCPD just reported an earthquake of 6.6 on the register scan."

"That's not an earthquake," Harry said. He emerged out of the mess of sparking wires and debris near the back of the Bunker. "Earthquakes come from down below. This... this is something else."

All at once, the whole room began to shake. Team Flash ducked down defensively, eyes toward the door.

Jay Garrick strode in, still in his suit from the funeral. "It's getting bad out there," he said, walking down the stairs and not noticing that he had just terrified them all with his arrival. "Emergency services will soon be overwhelmed."

"Guys," Julian spoke up. "7.2 on that last one."

"Cisco!" Wally's tinny voice cried through the walkie talkie.

"Yeah," Cisco called back. "Run! Guys," he turned back to his team. "Look."

One of the screens had finally cleared up enough for them to get a clear read to the satellite. Caitlin stepped forward, frowning curiously. "What is that thing?"

"Holy Plutonium..." Cisco muttered, staring in awe at the reddish-yellow blob taking up much of the map on the screen. "What even emits that many kilojoules?"

Jay Garrick went still, before looking around at all of them. "The Speed Force," he said softly, and that's when Barry knew.

The fight wasn't over yet.

 **Flash!**

The storm was just outside STAR Labs, as if it was waiting for him. "I need to stabilize it," Barry said softly, watching the swirling yellow and red light. It was hypnotizing, beautiful, inviting...

Barry didn't want to go.

"How?!" Caitlin asked, squinting as the wind whipped her hair into her eyes.

Barry sighed. This was the moment he had been dreading. "By running into it."

Caitlin's face went pale, her eyes wide. "Barry- no! You can't! You'll be trapped in there forever!"

"If I don't go, the whole city- maybe even the entire planet- could be destroyed," Barry responded. He turned to her, resting his hands on her shoulders.

"Cisco!" Caitlin gasped, her eyes filling with tears. "There's gotta be another way, right?"

Cisco's mouth opened a little but he couldn't think of anything to say.

"Barry-" Caitlin cried. "Central City needs the Flash."

"They'll have one," Barry said reassuringly, looking towards Wally. "They'll have one, alright?" He walked over to the youngest West and pulled him into a tight hug. "Alright?"

"Yeah," Wally breathed, looking miserable.

Barry turned away and looked to Julian. "Mate-" the blond started, but Barry simply held out his hand.

"Thank you," he said, softly, sincerely. "Thank you for everything you've done for her."

Julian nodded tightly, shaking Barry's hand with a firm grip.

Finally, Barry pulled away and grasped Harry's hand. "Do you mind sticking around?"

"Anything for you," Harry said.

"Barry!" Caitlin cried, tears in her voice. "Wally and Jay said they were in Hell."

As she spoke, a breach formed on the pavement in front of them. They all shielded their eyes from the light, and a ghost-like figure stepped out.

"Barry, it's your mother," Joe said, his voice wavering.

Barry strode towards her a couple of steps, his eyes adjusting to the light. "That's the Speed Force," he said.

"Barry isn't going to Hell," Nora Allen said. "Like all runners must eventually, he's reached his finish line. His race is over."

Barry let out a long breath, his eyes filling with tears. Something akin to peace was settling in him. He only wished-

"You can't take him with you!" Caitlin cried out. Her voice was thick, and Barry turned to see her with tears on her cheeks.

"She's not taking me anywhere," Barry said gently. "I have to go."

"Why?" Caitlin sobbed. "Why are you being punished?"

"This- all of this-" Barry gestured behind him. "This is my responsibility. And we- we found a loophole and we- we saved Iris and you and... this is my penance. The Speed Force was with us, but we have to give something back."

"By beautiful boy," Nora said softly, and Barry turned back to her. "It's time to rest."

Barry nodded, the peace inside of him growing. He walked quickly over to Cisco, pulling him into a hug. "Take care of her," he whispered.

"I'll do my best," Cisco murmured. "But she does a pretty good job of it herself."

"They're all going to look to you, now," Barry said.

"I'm not a hero like you," Cisco said, voice wobbling.

"You've always been my hero."

Barry pulled back and turned to Joe. His surrogate-father shook his head. "All this time we were trying to save Iris, you're telling me that we should have been trying to save you, too?"

Barry smiled, resting his hands on Joe's shoulders. "You did save me, Joe," he told him. "You took an 11 year old boy with a broken heart, and you gave him a home, and so much love. No son ever felt more love from a father."

Joe shook his head again, his voice cracking. "No father ever felt more proud of a son."

Barry pulled him into a tight hug, and then turned to Iris. "You look after all of them," he said softly.

She nodded, tears in her eyes, and hugged him tightly. Barry kissed her cheek, and then looked to the last member of their group:

Caitlin Snow.

"Barry," Nora called, and he knew his time was up. "It's time."

Caitlin hurried up to him, face wet with tears, and Barry cupped her face. "I love you," he said softly, and she let out a hoarse sob.

"I just- I just got you back," Caitlin whispered. "How can you expect me to let you go again?"

"Because you're strong, Caitlin," Barry told her, wiping tears away from her face. "You're so strong- stronger then any of us know. You need to keep living your life. Keep loving. Keep running. Can you do that for me?"

Trembling, Caitlin nodded, and Barry leaned down to kiss her. She kissed him back, _hard_ , because they both knew that this was it. Once Barry pulled away, that would be goodbye.

Barry pulled back, and pressed their forehead together. "I gotta go," he whispered, his voice breaking just a little.

Caitlin grasped at his wrist, trying to keep him close, but he pulled away.

When he disappeared into the breach, it felt like she had been doused in cold water.

And when the breach closed, leaving the group in darkness and the city in peace, Caitlin Snow knew that her world was over.

 _Barry Allen was gone_.

 **Author's Note: Well was that dramatic or** ** _what_** **?**

 **No, but seriously- poor Cait! She just gets Barry back and then he has to go away again :'(. Good thing he'll be back in a few months :D**

 **Sooooo that'** ** _technically_** **wraps Snowbarry Season 3, but I'll be back to post a few random scenes. And then we are on to Season 4, FINALLY! I am so psyched for that season- it's gonna be totally awesome :)**


	7. 3x17 (scene)

**Author's Note: You people! Usually I understand an obsession with me writing a certain episode but** ** _man_** **, I don't really see why this one is so exciting! I hope you all know that Barry isn't going to sing to Caitlin... they're already engaged, for one, and I can't put song lyrics into a fanfiction legally, for two XD Sorry if that's the part you were looking forward to :{**

Caitlin sat in front of Barry's bed, twisting her ring around her finger. She felt terrible. Not just because Barry was in _another_ coma and she couldn't help, but also because of the way they had left off.

She had been frustrated. Maybe irrationally so, but frustrated all the same. Ever since he went to the future, Barry had been so concerned about Iris' fate. He knew she was going to die, and he was doing everything he could to stop that from happening.

Caitlin was completely fine with that. Iris was his sister, and it was only fair that he was worried about her. She just would have wished that he could show the same worry for her, too, because it wasn't as if the future was going to leave her unscathed.

 _Killer Frost_. Just thinking of the name made her shiverer and unconsciously check that her power-dampening necklace was still there. She was scared- no. She wasn't scared. She was _terrified_ that she was going to turn into a icy, blue, devilish seductress and kill all her friends. It had almost happened before, and it had taken everything in Barry's power to save her.

That had been back when he was actually _worrying_ about saving her. What about now, if she turned? Barry didn't seem all that concerned about her wellbeing.

They had gotten into a fight about it, right before he went comatose. Caitlin had been unable to control her emotions. She had said things she didn't mean, and Barry had reacted with frustration. Was this how it was going to be? Was Caitlin turning evil going to completely break the two of them to the point that Barry didn't even care anymore?

Caitlin shook herself. She was taking a situation and spinning it completely out of control. Barry was worried about her. He was _always_ worried about her. It was just like he had said in Gorilla City: he trusted her enough to fight the evil inside of her.

Caitlin let out a sigh. She wished she could convince herself that.

Abruptly, both of the figures on the beds started seizing. Mon-El hurried into the room, staring worriedly at Kara, who was comatose along with Barry. "What's wrong?" he demanded.

"I think we're losing them," Caitlin responded frantically. She pulled herself away from Barry's side and started to scan her monitors for details.

"Can you stop it?" Hank Henshaw, there with Mon-El and Kara, asked.

"Not if I don't know why."

"Then what're we going to do?" Wally asked softly.

Iris stared at the two figures, then at Mon-El, then at Caitlin. "You guys need to go to whatever world they're in," she realized.

HR pointed a triumphant drumstick at her, and then paused. " _How_ are we going to do that?"

Caitlin paused her search of the monitors. There was nothing to see. "He- he said that if we loved them we could save them wherever they are," she said, following where Iris' idea was heading. "Cisco, you can vibe us there."

"I don't think it works that way," Cisco murmured.

"You sent Iris into the Speed Force. You brought Wally and Barry into the future." Caitlin stared at him pleadingly, her hand on Barry's arm as he continued to jerk around on the mattress. "You can do this, too."

"What is she talking about?" Hank demanded. "What's a vibe?"

"I'll explain later," Cisco deflected, grabbing his vibe-glasses from the table and sliding them onto his face. "Come on, just grab on to my shoulders."

Caitlin hurried around the table, nodding at Iris to keep on eye on the monitors, and gripped both Barry and Cisco's shoulders.

"Let's hope this works," Cisco murmured, and suddenly, they were there.

Barry and Kara were lying in the street, both in old fashioned, dressy clothing. Caitlin barely glanced at the scenery as she sprinted forward and fell to her knees beside her fiancé. There was already a large red blotch on the front of his otherwise pristine shirt, and Caitlin panicked. "Barry, it's me," she said, tears blurring her vision as she pressed her hands to his wound, trying to stem the flow of blood. "It's Caitlin. I'm here."

Mon-El, who was at Kara's side, glanced over his shoulder. "We have to go," he said urgently. "We have to get them out."

Caitlin stared around them desperately, but Cisco had vanished, along with any sort of breach. Hopelessness set in and she turned back to Barry.

His eyes were glazed, face drained of color, and his head started to tilt. He was fading, and fast.

"Barry- Barry, please-" Caitlin choked out. She removed her hand from the bloodstain on his shirt and used both hands to cup his face. "I can't lose you- I- I-"

"I love you," Barry breathed, his eyes starting to close. "I wish I had tried harder to save you. I'm sorry I let you down."

A tear dripped off of Caitlin's chin, landing on his shirt and making a small wet spot. Caitlin shook her head again, unwilling to let him go. "No, no, Barry, please-"

His eyes shut.

Caitlin stared intensely at him, hands still cupping his face. "You could never let me down," she breathed, and, unsure of what else to do, kissed him.

The world turned to shiny gold light, and when Caitlin slowly pulled back, she found that both she and Barry were back at STAR Labs.

"Cait...?" Barry murmured, his voice hoarse like he had just woken up.

"Hi," Caitlin whispered as Barry slowly sat up, looking around him and touching all the wires he was hooked up to in confusion.

"They're back!" HR cried happily, thrusting his hands in the air. Team Flash all had general cheesy grins on their faces, and the sight made Barry smile.

Caitlin rested her hand on Barry's back, reaching to help him take off his oxygen and wires. Before she could, the sound of applause made her look up.

"Bravo!" the Music Meister said, clapping his hands as he stepped into the room. "Round of applause, standing O'- that was so good! I loved it. It was one heck of a show, and you two... I guess you're love really was strong enough after all."

Barry stared at him in confusion, then glanced at Kara. She looked just as bewildered.

"Man, how did you get out of the cell?!" Cisco cried, shaking his head.

"Cisco..." the Music Meister said, shaking his head. "Do you really think that cell is just gonna, like, hold me?"

Cisco opened his mouth to reply, but Barry cut him off. "No- I'm sorry- what is going on? Why did you do this to us?"

"I did it because I believe in the good guys!" the meta said, grinning happily. "I told you, when we first met. It was to teach all of you a lesson."

Everyone stared at him blankly, but the Music Meister just smiled. "I see _everything_ ," he said. "And I saw two people with two hurt hearts."

"So..." Kara said awkwardly. "The lesson was...?"

"Love," the Music Meister finished. "Love, Supergirl. Love is about letting yourself be saved. It's not just about saving other people. Even though you are superheroes. Anyway!" he clapped his hands together. "I'm sorry I had to, like, mess with you a little, but I was just trying to get you to play the game, give a dance..."

"Are you from another... Earth- Mulitverse- Universe?" HR stuttered. "Or something?"

"Oh yeah.. you wouldn't even _understand_ where I come from," the Music Meister muttered. He turned and started to dance out the door, and Barry finally spoke up.

"I'm sorry- that's it? You're just gonna... teach somebody else a lesson?"

"Yeah," the Music Meister said, as if it was obvious. "That's exactly what I'm gonna do."

With that, he backed out the door and faded into nothingness.

Caitlin let out a long breath as Barry sat back, shaking his head slowly. He sent her a quick glance. "So..."

"So," Caitlin echoed, letting out a relieved giggle. "I guess we're good now, thanks to a singing imp from another Universe?"

Barry grinned and rested his head against her shoulder, staring up at her lovingly. "That sounds about right."

 **Author's Note: WOOOOW I have never written a chapter of Snowbarry Season 1, 2 or 3 so fast XD Hope you guys enjoyed, and it was worth all the general hullabaloo.**


	8. 3x16 (scene)

**Author's Note: THIS SCENE! OH MY GOSH THIS SCENE! Let's be real, we** ** _all_** **know that that baby in the speed force was supposed to be Barry and Cait's :) :) :) :) :) :)**

It was strange opening his eyes and finding himself back in STAR Lab's hallway.

Except... it wasn't STAR Labs. Because Barry Allen was back in the Speed Force.

Wally had gotten sucked in by Savitar a couple nights ago, and Barry had decided that he had to go save him. He wasn't sure exactly how this Speed Force prison worked, or how to get there, but he figured his best bet would just be to enter the Speed Force and go from there.

The sound of a baby crying caught his attention. Barry frowned. The last time he had been here, the Speed Force had taken the forms of people he knew, in an attempt to make him feel more comfortable. But Barry didn't know any babies.

Someone was singing softly. The voice was female, quiet and sweet, but it still managed to echo through the hallway like the person was using a microphone. It was an odd sensation, and Barry began to walk towards the noise.

There was a figure standing inside the Cortex. She was wearing a green dress and had a tiny, pink-blanket-swaddled baby wrapped up in her arms. Barry's breath caught in his throat and he swallowed _hard_.

It was Caitlin.

Barry moved closer, his heart thudding. "That baby..." he breathed, pulling off his glove. His fingers trembled a little as they hovered over the infant's face, lightly brushing her cheek. "Is she-?"

Caitlin looked up. Her hair was a little longer, and she looked more tired than usual, but when she smiled it still lit up her eyes. " _Yes_ ," she whispered. "Do you want to hold her?"

Barry swallowed. He felt tears starting to blur his vision as Caitlin gently passed her child- _their_ child- into Barry's arms. The bundle was heavier then he expected, and he began to rock it gently, not wanting the baby to wake up again.

Caitlin rested her head on Barry's shoulder, her hands unconsciously fiddling with the baby's blanket, smoothing and straightening it. "You see, Barry?" she murmured, brushing her lips against his jaw. "This is what you could have had. A beautiful baby girl... another life that we could have shared in."

"We should have had this," Barry breathed. "A future."

"The future doesn't always turn out the way you want it to," Caitlin said. "Just like when Wally made his own sacrifice for you by going into the Speed Force."

Barry shut his eyes, and Caitlin gently took the baby back from him. "Savitar tricked Wally into going into the Speed Force," Barry said firmly. "And now he's trapped. Wally doesn't belong in the Speed Force. You have to let me take his place."

"And tell me, Barry," Caitlin said, raising her eyebrows. "What will the real Caitlin Snow think of your sacrificing yourself?"

Barry looked down, shaking his head. "I have to do it."

"You can't," Caitlin shrugged. "Savitar told you that one of you would suffer a fate worse then death. That's not you. Now get out while you still can."

She shifted her child and placed an hand on Barry's arm. Barry looked down at his daughter, just blinking away with wide, brown eyes. She smiled at little at him, and Caitlin kissed her forehead.

" _You can still have this_."

 **Author's Note: A couple more scenes left to go!**


	9. 3x19 (scenes)

**Author's Note: Nope, wasn't a typo. There'll be two scenes for this episode, nicely separated with a linebreaker : ) GOTTA LOVE THOSE LINEBREAKERS.**

Barry and Future-Cisco stepped into the dimly lit room. Julian looked up from where he was dumping an uneaten lunch-trey into the trashcan. He nodded at them. "It's been awhile, gentlemen."

He hadn't aged quite as well as Cisco. His hairline had receded even more, there were deep frown lines around his mouth, and he had a pair of Harry-Potter spectacles perched on his nose.

"More then you know," Cisco responded, and Barry stepped into the light.

Julian squinted, before his eyes widened and his eyebrows rose. "Allen?"

"Yeah, it's me, Julian," Barry responded, nodding a little. "From the past. 2017." He kept his words short and quick, just wanting to get through the formalities and see what they had come for.

 _Who_ they had come for.

"2017," Julian murmured. "The year it all began." He turned and walked to his desk, putting up a very good image of looking busy. "I assume you're here for some answers, then?

"Something like that."

"Well, you've come to the wrong place, mate," Julian said. He seemed bitter, angry at Barry, and the speedster had an idea why.

"I just wanted him to understand," Cisco said quietly.

"Julian." Barry titled his head, taking a deep breath. His future self had left the one person he loved most of all, abandoned her completely. Julian, however, had not. "Can I see her?"

Julian sighed and nodded, unable to refuse. He led the two of them into a room with a large cell in it, and stood a little ways back. "I tried to find her something more humane, but... it's the best I could do."

The cell Barry was looking at looked quite a bit like a pipeline cell, only larger. It had a bed and padding along the walls, and faint blue glow of the power dampening abilities it contained didn't do much to light up its occupant.

"Caitlin."

A figure, located on the bed, sat up. Killer Frost blinked at Barry. Her hair was white, going almost down to her waist, and she was wearing a short-sleeve, dark t-shirt.

"It's me," Barry said gently, going a little closer to the glass. He felt sick. How had he just left her here? How had he abandoned her like this?

"Barry Allen..." Frost murmured, a soft smile crossing her mouth.

"I'm-"

"From the past. I can tell," Frost interrupted. "You're actually here."

Barry swallowed, staying silent.

"So to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" Frost asked. She was sitting up fully now, hair hanging in curtains across her face. "Come to see how things turn out for Team Flash?"

Barry took a deep breath. "I wanted to see what happened to the woman I love."

Frost jolted off the bed, and strode to the glass in short, quick steps. "I am _not_ the woman you love, _Flash_ ," she growled.

"I'm so sorry I did this to you," Barry breathed, stepping forward. "I should have saved you."

"I'm _glad_ that you did this to me," Frost said, leaning on the glass.

"Caitlin wasn't." At those words, Frost rolled her eyes and turned away, walking towards the back of her cell. "I failed her," Barry continued. "But I won't when I go back. I'm gonna find you, and I'm gonna help you."

"You're no match for the _god of Speed_ ," Frost told him scathingly. She walked slowly towards the glass, smirking. "You didn't tell him, did you?" she asked Cisco. "Well. Secrets always were our thing, weren't they? When I became Killer Frost, Savitar appeared to me and showed me the way. We made one heck of a team."

Barry felt his stomach sink. Caitlin hadn't just turned into Killer Frost... but she had started working with Savitar. She had taken part in murdering Iris, in destroying his life.

He couldn't believe this. He just couldn't.

"Why would you help him?" he breathed.

"Because _he_ gave me the thing that you couldn't," Killer Frost hissed. "The cure to my illness. _Embracing_ who I really am."

Slow realization dawned on Barry, and he looked up, eyes wide. "You know who he is."

A soft, pleased smile quirked Frost's lips.

"Who is he?" Barry asked, coming closer to the glass. He got right up next to it, so close that their faces were only a couple inches away. "Tell me who he is."

Frost smiled, wagging her finger in front of Barry's face like she was scolding a puppy. "I'll _never_ tell. You are gonna be _so_ surprised when you find out."

With that, she turned around and went back to her bed.

Barry's head dropped, but he was now more determined then ever.

He was going to find Caitlin Snow, and he was going to bring her home before Savitar _ever_ found her.

 **Flash!**

 **(scene 2)**

It was snowing in the forest, and Killer Frost had no idea if she was causing it.

She was still in her medical smock from her surgery, her feet bare against the snow. She should have been so cold it hurt, but she didn't feel any different then normal.

Frost moved through the forest almost silently, her hands raised and frosting in case of an attack. She wasn't sure exactly what she was prepared to fight: her friends or Savitar or...

The familiar clank of a metal boot made Frost pause and slowly look up.

"I've been waiting for you," Savitar rasped. "Fear not. I have come only to offer you what you desire."

Frost squinted at him suspiciously. "What's that?"

" _Salvation_."

"You wanna cure me?" Frost demanded. "Turn me back into Caitlin Snow?"

Savitar shook his head. "No," he responded. "I want to make sure Caitlin Snow _never_ returns."

"Why should I trust you?" Frost asked, still suspicious. Savitar had never done anything good for Caitlin's friends, and Frost had no reason to believe he would do something good for her.

Savitar got to his knees and planted his armor-encased fists on the ground. His plating began to shift, fanning out from his arched back and opening up.

A figure got out of. His brown hair was longer, half of his face covered in scars, but he was unrecognizable.

"What do you need me to do?" Frost asked Barry Allen.

( **And a quick "inside look" scene just because WHY NOT** ** _.._** **.)**

It had been a couple weeks since Killer Frost started working with Savitar. It was a dangerous position for her. When Savitar was out of the suit with the unscarred side of his face toward Frost, she could feel Caitlin violently struggling. Just seeing Barry -even though he _wasn't_ , and Caitlin knew that- would make her stronger.

It was hard for Frost to keep her attractions at bay as well. Even cold and evil and determined to take Team Flash down, there had been a reason she had gone with Savitar. She was in love with Barry, or, at least, Caitlin was, and if Caitlin could find love with a version of Barry, so could she. Hers just happened to be suitably evil and uncaring.

Savitar was doing some repairs on his suit, but he stopped when she walked in. "Hey, handsome," Frost greeted automatically, smirking when he looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Getting some tinkering in?"

"This is far from tinkering," Savitar responded, not caring that she was teasing. "My suit is-"

"Yes, yes, I've heard the spiel," Frost interrupted, rolling her eyes. She walked forward, tilting her head. "How about we go have some fun tonight?"

Savitar stared down at her. "We've got to stay focused on our mission. There's not point in needless killing."

"You don't have to _kill_ anyone," Frost groaned. "Just instill fear into the hearts of the little mortals on Earth 1."

Savitar stepped forward, looming over her. At first she thought he was angry, but then a very small, possessive smile crossed his face. "I have some... different ideas of fun we could have tonight," he whispered, eyes flicking to her lips.

Frost swallowed, licking her lips unconsciously. Her breath shuddered a little when Savitar reached up one calloused hand and cupped her cheek.

Something in her stirred. Something _warm_.

She hurriedly backed up. Savitar's eyebrows went up in surprise and a tiny bit of hurt. Frost hurriedly put on a smile. "Now, now, Sav... can't have you getting too frisky on me."

Savitar squinted at her. "Do you know..." he said dangerously. "How long I have waited... to kiss you again?"

Frost gulped. "Sav-"

"Six... years..." Savitar murmured, coming closer. "I still remember everything, Frost. I still remember falling in love with you, holding you, touching you, _kissing you_... and I'm only human." He spread his arms, smiling wryly. "At least for now. I have certain... human wants... and you can fulfill them."

"You can't," Killer Frost said harshly. "If you do, you're going to lose me. To... _her_."

She hated to admit that she was weak; that there was still apart of Caitlin inside of her. She wouldn't have had to if Savitar was forcing himself unto her.

But the thing was, she wanted it, too.

Savitar cupped her face again, harder, and Frost shut her eyes. When he spoke, his breath tickled her face. " _I trust you_."

She leaned up and kissed him, lips roving over his with an amount of lustful intensity that she hadn't shared with Barry. Barry and Caitlin were more soft and sweet, but where they had gentleness Savitar and Frost had speed; where they had beauty Savitar and Frost had passion.

It was glorious and painful and altogether terrible all at once, and Frost wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed when it ended.

After that night, Savitar mostly left Frost alone. There were occasional moments when he would trail his hand over her back or gently kiss her neck, but he seemed to understand that doing so was making it even harder for her to stay in control of Caitlin.

And so life continued. Savitar kept going with his work, and Killer Frost kept helping him.

It may not have been the life that Caitlin had once had, but she wasn't about to complain.

 **Author's Note: Hey, people! You should totally go check out** **Chocolate X My Mouth** **'s very own Season 3 rewrite, complete with a new villain, fun characters, and, of course, Snowbarry as the main ship. It's called** ** _Season 3 AU- Team Up, Speed Up_** **. You won't be disappointed!** ****


	10. 3x21 (scene)

**Author's Note: OKAY, so I know that TECHNICALLY Caitlin is all KF in this part of the series, BUT BUT BUT CAN WE JUST OVERLOOK THAT?! 'Cause this scene will be useless with KF instead of Cait!**

 **Sorry, guest, if you had wanted it to be Killer Frost. I can do another one if that is the case, just let me know in the comments.**

Using the Cerebral Inhibitor was one of the best/worst ideas Team Flash had ever had.

The machine would prevent Barry from retaining memories, which, in turn, would stop Savitar from remembering anything that happened to him in his past. There was one problem:

It had gone wrong. Barry had lost all of his memories. A bunch of crazy, kind of funny, awkward moments had followed, in which Caitlin tried to get Barry to remember her, then tried to get to know him, then just had fun with him in his undamaged, innocent state. It was a Barry she hadn't seen for a long time and she missed it so much it hurt.

Now, however, they needed the old Barry to come back. There was a fire at an apartment building, people were trapped, and Barry could barely even figure out his super speed long enough to get to the scene of the accident.

"I barely got here myself!" Barry yelled through the comms after Cisco told him that he needed to run all of the people out of the building. "How am I supposed to run with someone else?!"

"There's gotta be something we can do," Wally muttered from the desk.

Caitlin bit her lip. "There _is_ something we can do," she murmured, exchanging worried glances with Cisco and nodding to the machine they and Julian had made. It _should_ work to jumpstart Barry's brain and let him regain his memories.

Key word being "should".

"We haven't tested it!" Cisco protested.

"We don't have _time_ to do a test run," Julian interrupted.

"What is that thing?" Joe asked nervously.

"This would send electrical charges through the transmitters in his suit," Caitlin explained. "Theoretically, it should jolt his memories."

"You want to electro-shock his brain?" Iris asked incredulously.

"Won't that fry it even more?" Wally agreed.

Caitlin resisted the urge to groan. "If we don't do it, people are going to die. Trust me- I like this even less than the rest of you, but we've got to do it."

Cisco nodded a few times, and rested his hand on the machine. "Okay, Barry. You're gonna feel something. It might hurt, might sting, might suck."

"What?!"

"Probably all three," Cisco continued, ignoring the desperation in his best friends voice. "Okay, _here we go_!"

He pressed the button and Barry let out a terrific scream. Caitlin bit down on her lip and clenched the back of her chair in a vice-grip, waiting. Would it work?

The screams stopped and Cisco, his face masked in a wince, asked, "Barry?"

"I- I..." Barry gasped. "I- yeah, I still don't remember anything."

"Why didn't that work? That was supposed to work?" Julian demanded desperately, spinning toward Cisco.

"We kickstarted his temporal lobe," Caitlin explained. "Now he just needs to access it."

"Gas is in the tank, we just need to turn on the ignition," Cisco breathed. "We need a visceral memory to spark his brain."

Everyone turned to Caitlin. "Oh," she squeaked. "Um, right, I suppose that's my job, isn't it?"

She hurried over to the desk and leaned towards the mic. "Hey, Barry."

"Um, hi, Caitlin?" Barry replied, a little confused.

"Do you remember when we first met?" Caitlin asked. Then she stopped. "No, of course you don't. But I do. After I had been taking care of you for nine months, when you were in a coma, you woke up. Cisco and I were in the room, and you sat up. You were... so confused, and terrified, and I- I asked you to pee in a cup. How romantic does that get? The first thing I say to you is about you peeing in a cup."

She laughed softly, her eyes welling up with tears. "Today... today I realized that you have gone through so much pain in your life. It builds up, after awhile, and without all of that you were so... _free_ , and happy, and I wish I could see you like that all the time. But I also realized that if you forget everything, the bad _and_ the good go away. You have had so many beautiful moments in your life, and I don't think that the Barry Allen I know and love would want to lose those moments just so that he could forget about the bad ones.

'Barry, I need you to remember. I know it's hard, and I know that you probably don't even _want_ to remember. But what you need to know is that with every bad and painful memory you have had in your life, there's been a good one to match it. One that will get you through it."

And as glass shattered from the burning building in front of him, Barry remembered. He remembered his mother's death, his father's murder, Eobard Thawn, Zoom, Savitar... but he also remembered spending time with Iris and Joe as a kid, kissing Caitlin for the very first time, goofing off with Cisco in the Cortex and working with his favorite people in the world to save the city he loved.

" _I remember_."

 **Author's Note: I had** ** _so much trouble with that scene_** **. Like.** ** _So much_** **. I think I'm loosing my "motivational scenes" touch. Also I'm trying to type and my cat** ** _literally has her paw on top of my hand._** **Like no joke it's ridiculously difficult to type rn.**

 **OKAY. Are there ANY OTHER SCENES YOU GUYS WANT ME TO DO?!**

 **'** **Cause if not, we're all done with this story! I'll see you guys (unless there's another requested chapter) in Season 4! :D :D :D**


	11. 3x15 (scene)

**Author's Note: Whoops, there was another requested scene. I'M SORRY GUYS I'M SERIOUS SEASON 4 IS COMING SUPER SUPER SUPER SOON! I know y'all are just as excited as I am and I'm SO sorry to keep you waiting!**

It was possible that this was the worst day of Caitlin's life. All of this was her fault- _all of it_. If she hadn't kept the Sorcerer's Stone, and betrayed the Team, Savitar never would have escaped. Wally wouldn't be gone. Barry wouldn't have had a giant metal spear through the bone in his shoulder.

But she had to focus. Barry was lying on the medical bed, the heart monitor showing that he was _completely_ freaking out, his face a white mask of pain.

"The blade didn't hit any major organs but it did shatter your glavical," Caitlin told him, pulling on a pair of latex gloves as quickly as possible.

"Hang in there..." Cisco muttered.

"We have to take it out," Caitlin continued. "Any medicine I give you your metabolism will burn through."

Barry gulped, sounding like he was going to be sick, but nodded. "Just do it!" he hissed, gasping for air.

Julian handed Barry a cotton roll for him to bite down on in hopes that it would stop him from chomping down on his own lip or tongue.

Caitlin leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, grasping the spear. "I'm so sorry," she murmured, and he nodded at her, letting her know that he knew it wasn't her fault.

It was though. All of it was.

Cisco reached down and gripped Barry's hand, holding down his good shoulder. Julian hovered by Caitlin's side, ready with a swab to catch any blood. Caitlin took a deep breath. "Three... two... one."

She yanked.

Barry let out a blood curdling yell, then flopped back, unconscious.

She was there when he woke up, standing beside his bed after changing him into a loose, comfortable black sweatshirt and sweatpants. Barry looked around for a moment, confused, before his gaze landed on her and he relaxed.

"How long was I out?" he asked, his voice rough.

"Not long," Caitlin whispered, resting her hand on his forehead and rubbing her thumb against his skin. He shut his eyes, letting her soothe him. "Are you in much pain?"

Barry's eyes opened back up, glancing across the room to land on Joe. He was holding the tattered remains of Wally's suit in his hand, his face drawn. Caitlin saw Barry's eyes fill with tears before he shut them again.

"I might be able to do something with this," Cisco said, his own eyes suspiciously red as he nodded at the now-clean spear from Savitar's armor that he held in his hand.

"Joe," Barry breathed, looking up at his dad. "I'm sorry- I'm so sorry-"

Joe shook his head. "Not your fault," he told Barry, his voice shaky but sure.

A tear rolled down Barry's cheek and Caitlin's heart broke.

"Where is he?" Joe asked. "I mean, is he in pain, is he-"

Abruptly, Jesse Wells burst into tears. She ran out of the room and HR followed her with his gaze, before letting out a long breath and going after her.

"One will suffer a fate worse than death," Cisco whispered, quoting Savitar's prophecy from the beginning of the year.

"What're we gonna do?" Joe asked, his voice breaking. "We have to bring him back; we have to save him. I can't loose Wally, Barry." Shaking his head, he turned away from the bed and hurried out of the room.

"I'm sorry," Barry whispered again, looking at Iris.

She touched his hand, then shook her head and left the room.

Another tear slid down Barry's cheek, and Caitlin's head dropped. "I'm sorry," she whispered as Cisco and Julian left the room. "I'm so sorry. I should have- I was afraid."

"I know," Barry replied, his voice still hoarse. He forced himself to sit up scoot over, giving her room to lie down. She curled into his arms, her tears soaking the shoulder of his sweatshirt. "I forgive you, Caitlin," Barry continued. "We're in this together. Win together... lose together..."

"Cry together?" Caitlin sniffled.

For the first time since he had gotten stabbed, a soft smile broke over Barry's face. "Cry together."

They did just that.

 **Author's Note: Okaaaay so I wrote that in like 15 minutes and it was SO FUN LIKE I CAN'T EVEN! Thank you for the request :)**

 **OKAY NOW I'M REALLY STARTING SEASON 4 I SWEAR I SWEAR I SWEAR!**


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